Saviors
by amebane
Summary: The Atlantis Galactic Federation's final hunt for the few remaining Wraith.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

**This is a AU crossover between Stargate Atlantis and The Silmarillion.**

**NOTE 1: Some of the races that belong to the Atlantis Galactic Federation (AGF) can be found in Chapter 12 of my story Long Lost Brothers at the bottom of the page. I got lazy and decided not to rewrite it. I also kept the name Atlantis Galactic Federation because the Joint Chiefs on Earth decided to name their Federation after Atlantis. The AGF is in five galaxies: the Milky Way, Pegasus, Andromeda, Ida and Triangulum.**

**NOTE 2: The humans in the Pegasus galaxy call themselves Lantians.**

**NOTE 3: Below are the specs for all AGF ships. The unidentified torpedoes are planet destroyers and the Ancient beam weapon has been upgraded throughout the years – thanks to the Aldans.**

AGF Flagship: _Thor's Hammer (Milky Way galaxy)_

5,000 Meters

2,500 Meters width

Hyper-drive propulsion

60 decks

3,500 crew members

700 fighters

150 turrets

34 Asgard beam weapons

4 Ancient beam weapons

30,000 torpedoes

60,000 missiles

150 torpedoes that cannot be identified

Lieutenant General, Major General and Brigadier General's Flagships:

3,000 Meters

1,500 Meters width

Hyper-drive propulsion

40 decks

2,200 crew members

500 fighters

100 turrets

24 Asgard beam weapons

3 Ancient beam weapons

20,000 torpedoes

40,000 missiles

100 torpedoes that cannot be identified

AGF Heavy Battle Cruisers:

700 Meters

370 Meters width

Hyper-drive propulsion

28 decks

650 crew members

325 fighters

40 turrets

16 Asgard beam weapons

7,500 torpedoes

15,000 missiles

2 Ancient beam weapons

20 torpedoes that cannot be identified

AGF Medium Battle Cruiser:

550 Meters in length

285 Meters in width

Hyper-drive propulsion

24 decks

500 crew members

225 fighters

28 turrets

10 Asgard beam weapons

1 Ancient beam weapon

3,500 torpedoes

7,500 missiles

12 torpedoes that cannot be identified

AGF Light Battle Cruiser:

465 Meters in length

240 Meters in Width

Hyper-drive propulsion

20 decks

430 crew members

150 fighters

22 turrets

8 Asgard beam weapons

1 Ancient beam weapon

1,500 torpedoes

5,000 missiles

8 torpedoes that cannot be identified

All AGF Fighter Carriers:

500 Meters in length

240 Meters in width

Hyper-drive propulsion

22 decks

460 crew

300 fighters each

24 turrets

8 Asgard beam weapons

1 Ancient beam weapon

800 torpedoes

3,000 missiles

AGF Escort Vessels:

365 Meters in length

185 Meters width

Hyper-drive propulsion

16 decks

170 crew members

15 fighters

16 turrets

4 Asgard beam weapons

250 torpedoes

500 missiles

AGF Freighters

400 Meters in length

Hyper-drive propulsion

12 decks

140 crew members

10 fighters

18 turrets

2 Asgard beam weapons

300 missiles

xxx

During their years of exploration in the Pegasus galaxy and after going through the Ancient's database on Atlantis, the Lantian's discovered more stargates to the Andromeda and Triangulum galaxies. They already knew some of the gate addresses to the Ida galaxy, where the Asgards once lived, and they found more in the Ancient database. The Andromeda and Ida galaxies coordinates have eight chevrons and the Triangulum galaxy coordinates have nine chevrons or a ninth gate, the same as the _Destiny_.

In the Ancient database, the Lantians also found where they could find more Ancient drone weapons, ZPM's, the Ancient beam weapons, stargates, DHD's and other ancient technology - and they will not have to worry about ZPM's and weapons ever again. The AGF found over a thousand stargates and DHD's in the Pegasus galaxy, along with 508 space gates and more stargates in the Milky Way galaxy. They also found where the Ancient databases were on each planet in the Pegasus and Milky Way galaxies and destroyed them so no one could get their hands on that technology.

The Lantians also found a diagram of a Security Net in the Ancient database, that was even better than the Ancient shields, to protect Atlantis, AGF planets, ships and installations; but for whatever reason, they never installed it. The Ancients also made sure that no one could ever reverse engineer that technology. The AGF now uses Ancient shields on all their ships, planets and installations instead of Asgard shields; and if those shields ever went down, the Security Net will be activated.

The founding members of the AGF are Humans (Tau'ri), Jaffa, Galarans and the Aldans, who're from the Andromeda galaxy. The Aldans are experts in robotics, engineering, computer sciences and diplomacy. Unbeknownst to the Aldans, the Ancients kept an eye on them like they did the Asgards and they're just as smart and surpassed both races in some respects and can be ruthless soldiers when the need arises. They're a humanoid race with black spots on their foreheads similar to small boxes that go from the center of their foreheads to their hair lines; much like a head band and their coloring resembles a permanent tan and they have black hair and brown eyes. The Aldans have two habitual planets in their star system, both with stargates, three moons, two gas giants and the name of their home planet is called Aldania.

The Aldans tend to have a lot of children and needed to spread out as they had already colonized the other planet in their star system. The Lantians suggested, after they met them and got to know them, that they colonize a world in the Pegasus galaxy since there were numerous uninhabited planets in that galaxy. The Aldans did so and now have two colony worlds in the Pegasus galaxy. That was over three-hundred years ago and the Aldans are now considered the sixth great race.

xxx

Pegasus Galaxy - Unknown Space - 25,000 Years Ago

A ship dropped out of hyperspace and launched a cloaked probe a few light years from the planet and then jumped back into hyperspace. No one on the planet saw the ship arrive or depart; however, as the years went by that probe captured valuable information which will be of great help to the Saviors many years later.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

Pegasus Galaxy - Unknown Planet - 25,000 Years Later

The people in this small village were celebrating a wedding feast that afternoon and looked up when they heard strange sound..

"What are those?" a villager asked looking up at the strange things coming towards them.

"I've never seen anything like it before," the village elder said and heard murmurs among the guests.

The villagers disappeared in a _white light_ when the strange things passed over them.

xxx

The people crossing over the mountains turned around when they heard a loud noise. To their amazement they saw something large and black coming from the sky and before any of them could say a word, the black thing approached and they too disappeared in a _white light_.

The farmers in their fields also disappeared in a _white light _on the same day.

The people who settled in the Southeastern part of the country looked up and they too disappeared when the _white lights_ came.

The majority of the people in the South also disappeared that evening and the lucky few only saw _white light_s in a distance.

The people in the East looked up when they heard something strange and they too disappeared, and their fishing nets floated in the water with their catches.

The next morning very few men, women and children remained on the planet. However, no one knew a powerful race of beings were watching, but didn't interfere, except one many years later.

xxx

Ulmo, the Lord of Waters on Arda, receives all information throughout his waters...and the Atani's voices have always filled his waters with their stories and songs; until one day all of their voices went silent. He moved throughout his waters and still heard nothing from the Atani, and his waters were still and silent. Ulmo, who rarely comes ashore, but did so on this occasion unseen, passed throughout the length and breath of Arda where the Atani resided, except in the Northwestern part of Arda, and then returned to his waters.

xxx

Valinor

Manwë summoned Námo, the Lord of Mandos, to the top of Taniquetil. "Our brother wishes to speak to both us," Manwë told Námo when he appeared.

"Have all the Atani gone to your Halls Námo?" Ulmo asked.

"No," he answered. "Why do you ask?"

"I've always heard their voices throughout my waters until recently when all their voices ceased at once," he answered. "I went unclad on land to see why and I found that the Atani are no longer on Arda, except a few."

Manwë and Námo looked over the vastness of Arda and saw most of the second born Children of Eru Ilúvatar were missing; however, they did see a few Atani weeping.

Manwë then summoned Varda who immediately appeared at her husband's side. "What is she saying?" he asked his wife.

"She keeps saying everyone is gone," Varda answered looking at the mortal woman weeping and pounding her right fist on the ground.

Manwë then summoned the rest of the Valar to the top of Taniquetil and Ulmo told them what happened to the Atani. They also looked over Arda and saw it was mostly devoid of the second born Children of Eru Ilúvatar. They saw some Atani calling out the names of the their loved ones; most were weeping or sat stunned; some searching buildings, and some packing up and leaving their homes.

"Where are the children?" Yavanna asked.

"No one knows, including the remaining Atani," Ulmo answered.

"Yet, they know what happened," Oromë said.

"Yes they do, but it's beyond their understanding," Nienna said, wise as ever.

"Could this be the work of our brother?" Tulkas asked.

"No, because our brother doesn't know the Atani are everywhere on Arda," Ulmo answered. "However, I believe in time we'll find out what happened to them."

When Námo returned to his Halls he looked over his wife's tapestries for any clue as to what happened to the Atani, but didn't find anything, as all of her tapestries depicted events in the Northwestern part of Arda. He also knew that whatever happened to the Atani none of them will ever come to his Halls.

xxx

Over the years Ulmo began to hear the Atani's voices throughout Arda once again and knew they were reproducing. He also heard them talk in hushed tones about the _white light._ What he didn't know was that the Atani were telling their children the story of the _white light_.

"Have either of you heard of the _white light_?" Ulmo asked Ossë and Uinen with a thought.

"I've never heard of the _white light_ Lord Ulmo," Uinen answered.

"Neither have I," Ossë said.

"Thank you," Ulmo replied.

xxx

Pegasus Galaxy – One Hundred Years Later

Brigadier General Richard Stone, the Commander of the AGF science vessel the _Calypso,_ an AGF Heavy Battle Cruiser, and the civilian scientists on-board were studying a cluster of stars at the other end of the Pegasus galaxy.

"The sun just rose above a planet 10 light years from here and it appears it was once a Wraith world and they're many dead bodies on that planet, and my scans tell me they were once human," _Calypso, _the ship's avatar said.

"Human?" Stone asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes General," _Calypso_ answered.

"How many?" he asked.

_Calypso_ told him.

"That many?" he asked surprised and didn't see the stunned looks on the faces of his bridge crew.

"Yes General," _Calypso_ answered.

"Contact Colonel's Felix and Reyes," Stone ordered.

"Yes General," _Calypso_ replied.

Colonel Felix's ship, the _Monitor_, is an AGF Light Battle Cruiser, the same as Colonel Reyes' ship, the _Compass_, and they're the escort vessels for the _Calypso_.

"Sir," Felix and Reyes said when they appeared on one of the view screens.

General Stone told them of _Calypso_ findings and they were going to investigate. Colonel's Felix and Reyes told the General that their avatars also reported the same thing.

The three ships jumped into hyperspace a few minutes later.

xxx

"I want a deep scan of that planet," Stone said to _Calypso_ when they arrived above the planet.

"Yes General," _Calypso_ replied and began scanning. When _Calypso_ finished and reported his findings to General Stone, he was appalled, as were Colonel's Felix and Reyes and they agreed to meet in the General's office.

"I wonder where those humans came from sir?"Colonel Reyes asked.

"So do I and that planet doesn't have a stargate," Colonel Felix answered.

"How long have those people been dead _Calypso_?" Stone asked.

"Over 100 years General," _Calypso_ answered.

"This was a culling on a massive scale," Felix said in an angry tone.

"I'm going to contact Atlantis and tell them of our findings," Stone told them.

Colonel's Felix and Reyes confirmed what General Stone told Stargate Command and General Carmichael told them to stay put until the fleet arrives with Medical Forensic Teams. The _Calypso_, _Monitor_ and _Compass_ sent out their fighters just in case unwelcome guests arrived.

xxx

Atlantis - Two Days Later

"The Fleet is ready and awaiting your order General," her pilot said when she heard a beep at her station.

"Open a hyperspace window and jump," General Christine Sanders ordered.

"Yes ma'am," Captain Janice Carroll replied and opened a hyperspace window and the _Judgment Day_ jumped into hyperspace and the rest of the Fleet opened their own windows and jumped into hyperspace.

General Carmichael watched as the Fleet jumped into hyperspace.

xxx

When the AGF Fleet dropped out of hyperspace they surrounded the planet. "Scan that planet _Judgment Day_," Major General Christine Sanders ordered.

"Yes General," he replied and began scanning and reported his findings to the General.

"I'll be damned," General Sanders said, and contacted the three AGF science vessels and told them to return to Atlantis with their reports. "Transport the stargate, Engineers, the Medical Forensic Teams and the Marines to the planet."

"Yes General," _Judgment Day_ replied.

When General Stone and Colonel's Felix and Reyes returned to Atlantis they handed their reports to General Malcolm Carmichael.

xxx

Unknown Planet – Pegasus Galaxy

For the next few months the Stargate Medical Forensic Teams scanned every corpse. Many bodies were taken back to Atlantis through the stargate for further examination and the rest were buried in mass graves throughout the planet. Services were held for the dead and there were many tears...and those men and women thought it was a grisly detail. After everyone completed their tasks, a cloaked probe was set above the planet and some walked through the stargate, including the Medical Forensic Teams with their findings, and the ships returned to Atlantis with the stargate, DHD and the Marines.

xxx

Pegasus Galaxy - Atlantis

The newly appointed Four Star General of the Pegasus galaxy, General Stefan Dima, had just finished reading the reports from Doctor Terrence Jones and General Christine Sanders and ordered them to report to his office. "Are you sure all those corpses were human doctor?" Dima asked Doctor Jones when they arrived in his office.

"Everyone single one of them sir?" Jones answered. "We've checked and double checked and ran DNA tests and they were all human. As you've read sir, their clothing and boots are from the medieval period."

"All of our people are present and accounted for and does anyone know where these humans came from?" Dima asked.

"No sir," Sanders answered. "But wherever they came from there were over one hundred thousand people on that planet."

"No anymore," Dima said. "From your report doctor, it appears they were culled over 100 years ago."

"Yes sir, and that means the Wraith are due for another culling, if they haven't done so already," Jones answered.

"You're right doctor and we have to find them and fast," Dima replied.

"We don't know where to look for them sir and the Pegasus galaxy is a very big galaxy," Jones said.

"We also don't know how the Wraith found out about them," Sanders replied.

"The Wraith are very clever and they'll never tell us," Dima told her.

"We know sir," Sanders said.

"Dismissed," Dima said. General Dima knew no one has heard from the Wraith for hundreds of years and the Pegasus galaxy has prospered, and then they suddenly show up again. He knew after their civil war that the strong Wraith killed the weaker ones and only the strongest survived. AGF Intelligence found out that the Wraith continued their civil war for another 28 years until only a few hives remained, but no one knew where they were...and AGF Intelligence suspected they were in hibernation. It seems AGF Intelligence was correct and now the Wraith are awake. General Dima sent his, General Sanders and Doctor Jones's report to Headquarters on Earth.

A few weeks after General Dima sent the reports to Headquarters, he was ordered to report to General Charlotte Brennan office. General Brennan is the Supreme Command of all the AGF Armed Forces in the five galaxies. General Brennan is a Five Star General and her gold stars are in a circle around her collars and her uniform is a different color.

xxx

NORAD - Colorado - Earth

"Off world activation," the Corporal said. "It's coming from Atlantis."

"Welcome to Earth General Dima," Major General Scott Taylor said when he, his aide and his security detail walked through the stargate.

"Thank you General," he replied.

"General Brennan is waiting for you sir. Right this way," Major Sara Cummings, General Brennan's aide said to Dima.

"Thank you Major," he replied and everyone followed the Major out of the gateroom.

General Dima noticed the mountain is different and major changes were made to the entire complex, and while they were doing the renovations years ago, the gateroom was moved temporarily to another site. The gateroom is much larger and resembles the Atlantis gateroom in some ways, but different in other ways, but the guards still line the stargate on either side. The place is much brighter, modern and up to date and doesn't have the dungeon feel it once did.

When they arrived at the transporter Major Cummings told the transporter operator to transport the General and herself to the Pentagon, and the General's security detail and aide to their quarters.

xxx

The Pentagon - General Brennan's Office

"At ease General and have a seat," Brennan said when he entered her office and saluted and she pointed to one of the chairs in front of her desk.

"Thank you ma'am," he replied and did as he was ordered.

"These are very interesting reports Stefan," Brennan said. "Are the doctors sure the corpses were human?" she asked.

"Yes ma'am, and they checked and doubled check and ran DNA analysis as their reports stated," he answered.

"Have we found out where these humans came from?" she asked.

"Not as of yet General," he answered. "But we're still looking. As we know, the Pegasus galaxy is a very big place."

"I see the Wraith have found a new feeding ground," she said.

"It appears so," he replied.

"The President wants our Medical Forensic Teams to exam the bodies that were brought back to Atlantis and they're to report back to me with their results," she told him.

"Yes ma'am," he said.

"If we find out that they're human and we find them, she wants them off that planet and under our protection. The President also wants them to stay in the Pegasus galaxy and you're to find a suitable planet for them to inhabit," she said.

"Yes General," he replied.

"It's time for our meeting with the Joint Chiefs," she said.

For the next two days General Brennan, the Joint Chiefs and General Dima discussed the situation in the Pegasus galaxy and General Dima got the go ahead to do whatever he needed to do to find and protect the remaining humans, and General Brennan order General Dima to find and kill the remaining Wraith.

xxx

Milky Way Galaxy – Earth – Three Months Later

"They were all human?" Doctor Richard Carter, the CMO of Earth's Medical Forensic Team, asked reading his staff's reports.

"Yes they were Doctor Carter and we ran the same DNA analysis and the results are exactly the same as the Pegasus' Medical Forensic Teams," Doctor Sharon Ambrose answered.

"How the hell did these humans get here?" he asked.

"No one knows and that's what everyone is asking themselves?" Ambrose answered.

A week later Doctor Richard Carter handed their reports to General Brennan.

xxx

The _white light_ struck again two weeks later and the Atani population was severely depleted – and these Atani were taken to a different planet, but the Wraith didn't know someone was watching over the Atani and saw where they were taken.

Ulmo noticed the Atani's voices went silent once again and walked unclad on Arda and found most of the Atani were gone and informed Manwë.

Manwë, the Valar and their Maia attendants looked over the breath of Arda and saw most of the Atani were gone again; but the Atani they observed seemed resigned to their doom and they were all packing and leaving their homes.

"How can we protect the Atani?" Irmo asked.

"We're not allowed to interfere with them," Námo answered.

"Did any of them go to your Halls Námo?" Aulë asked.

"No they didn't," he answered.

When Námo returned to his Halls he again looked over his wife's tapestries and found nothing unusual concerning the Atani in the rest of Arda.

xxx

Three Weeks Later

"What were those things father?" Eleanor asked.

"They appeared long ago and did the same thing," he answered and told her the story.

"Who are they and where did everyone go?" Eleanor asked.

"No one knows," her father answered.

"Look father," Eleanor said a few hours later pointing to other people who were riding horses, walking, or in wagons, the same as she and her father, with their worldly possessions.

Haldor introduced himself and his daughter to everyone after they stopped for lunch by the river. "We haven't seen anyone for leagues," Haldor told them.

"Neither have we and we all came from different directions," another man said.

"Where are all of you going?" Haldor asked.

"I'm leading them to a forest not to far from here," Balin answered. "You and your daughter are welcome to join us and this is my son Delmar."

"Thank you, we will," Haldor said.

"It was a dream Elin had a few nights before the _white light_ came and we left our village the next morning. A few decided to stay behind and we hid and watched as they taken by the _white light_," Belgar said.

Murmurs among the villagers and some nodded their heads in understanding.

"It seems no one is safe and my wife was also taken by the _white light_," Haldor said holding his daughter and they both had tears in their eyes.

"None of us will ever be safe from the _white light_," Elin replied.

"How do you know Elin?" Balin asked.

"The woman's voice in my dream warmed me that the _white light_ was coming and told me how to get everyone in my village to safety. She also told me that the _white light_ will always come after us and no can stop the _white light_ – except the _others_," Elin answered.

"Did she tell you who the _others_ are and how they can stop the _white light_?" Balin asked.

"No she didn't, but she did tell me that the _others_ will eventually come and take us to safety, but she didn't know when...and that the _others_ are good and kind and we should trust them. She said the _others_ will have very strange things with them that we will not understand, but those strange things will not harm us in any way, and one of those strange things will take us to safety. She also told me the _others_ will be dressed very differently and they're a very old race, and one of the great races – and we'll recognize the _others_," Elin answered.

"Do you know what she meant when she said we'll recognize the _others_?" Haldor asked.

"No I don't," Elin answered.

"We never knew there were other races," Balin said surprised. "Did she tell you how they'll get here and where they're coming from?"

"No she didn't," Elin answered.

"I wonder what the strange things are that they'll have with them," Delmar said smiling at his father.

Everyone laughed and Eleanor smiled at Delmar.

The villagers didn't know the Lord of Waters heard everything they said.

A few days later everyone reached their new home and met Balin's folk, who helped them build their new homes.

xxx

The Isle of Balar

"Have any of the Eldar or Edain mentioned the _white light_ Lord Círdan?" Ulmo asked the shipwright from his waters.

"No Lord Ulmo," he answered.

"If they do let me know," Ulmo said.

"I will Lord Ulmo," Círdan replied wondering what the _white light_ is.

xxx

Valinor - Ring of Doom

Manwë summoned the rest of the Valar to the Ring of Doom.

"Our brother has something to tell us," Manwë told them when they appeared on their thrones with their Maiar attendants standing next to them. Eönwë was standing between Manwë and Varda.

Ulmo told them what he heard and what the mortal woman Elin told them about the _others_.

"Now we know it's the _white light_ that took the Atani," Yavanna said.

"But we still don't know what the _white light_ is; where the _white light_ took the Atani, or how the _white light_ did it," Aulë replied.

"The Atani don't know that either," Ulmo said.

"The woman speaking to Elin in her dream knew the _white light_ was coming to Arda," Estë said.

"She told Elin how to hide from the _white light_ and that's how she and her people survived. It appears this woman knows a great deal about the _white light_ and knows the Atani will never be safe from it," Irmo replied.

"She's watching over the Atani," Ulmo said.

"Is she an Ainur?" Olórin asked.

"No," Námo answered.

"Who is she?" Nessa asked. "I thought only the Ainur could send dreams."

"We've just found out otherwise," Ulmo said.

"I thought we were to watch over the Atani," Vána said.

"In this matter she's taken over and she's keeping the Atani safe, which is something we can never do," Ulmo replied.

"I wonder why she's doing it?" Vána asked.

"For the love of the Atani," Nienna answered.

"We also love the Atani," Estë said.

"Not the way she does," Nienna replied.

"I agree and she's taking care of the Atani the way we took care of the elves," Ulmo said. "We kept the elves safe from our brother and she's keeping the remaining Atani safe from the _white light_ until the _others_ arrive to take them to safety."

"Does that mean the _others_ will take the Atani from Arda Lord Ulmo?" Eönwë asked.

"The _white light_ has already taken the Atani from Arda twice Eönwë, and as all of us saw, the second born Children of Eru Ilúvatar on Arda are gone, but we don't know where," Ulmo answered. "The _others_ are coming to take the rest of the Atani to safety from the _white light,_ and the woman in Elin's dream told her they're the only ones who can keep them safe and no one else, including the Valar. She also told Elin the _others_ are an old race and ones of the great races."

"I thought the elves were the oldest and greatest race," Oromë said.

"We found out they're not and that they're other races in Eä that are much older and far greater than the elves...and whatever the _others_ are bringing with them, not even the elves will understand," Ulmo replied.

"I believe the woman in Elin's dream knows the _others_ and they know her," Nienna said.

"You're right," Aulë replied.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

**NOTE: Aldan's have one name.**

Four Months Later

Pegasus Galaxy - Atlantis

Lieutenant General Boro was sitting at his desk reading reports when _Atlantis_ (the avatar for Atlantis) appeared on his computer screen and told him someone had placed unknown coordinates into his computer and after thoroughly checking the entire system he could not find out where they came from.

"Thank you _Atlantis_," he said and entered his security code and saw coordinates to an unknown star system, and a star system he didn't recognize, but without the coordinates. General Boro downloaded the information and contacted General Dima.

Lieutenant General Boro is an Aldan and Head of AGF Intelligence in the Pegasus galaxy and is a Member of the Army Intelligence Special Forces Division (Delta Force). His assignments took him to four galaxies and he's not the type of man you want to meet in a dark alley.

xxx

General Dima's Office

"Boro," Dima said when he entered his office.

"Stefan," he replied and handed General Dima a tablet and took a seat in front of his desk. "This was in my computer, and _Atlantis_ told me he checked the entire system and couldn't find out where they came from," Boro said.

"Do you think our system has been compromised?" Dima asked.

"No I don't," he answered.

General Dima read the tablet. "Someone sent us coordinates to an uncharted star system in the Pegasus galaxy," Dima said.

"I know and I wonder why," Boro said. "I suspect whoever sent these coordinates wants us to check out that star system."

General Dima agreed and looked at the other star system without the coordinates. "This star system looks familiar," he said. "_Atlantis_ cross-check the star system without the coordinates with all known star systems."

"Yes General," _Atlantis_ said. "That star system is in the constellation Ursa Major in the Sol System in the Milky Way galaxy, and it's also known as the Big Dipper."

"Are you sure?" Dima asked, studying the map.

"Yes General," _Atlantis_ answered.

"I'll be damned," Dima said. "Boro, I want four Intelligence vessels sent to that unchartered star system and they're to be cloaked at all times."

"Yes sir," he said.

"Dismissed," Dima replied.

A hour later four AGF Intelligence vessels jumped into hyperspace.

xxx

"Scan that planet _Zeus_," Brigadier General David Boston said, learning forward in his chair tapping his right foot, when the Intelligence Fleet arrived in the unknown star system.

"Yes General," _Zeus_ replied and began scanning while the other three Intelligence vessels scanned that entire star system

After Zeus completed his scans, he reported his findings to the General.

"DAMN!" Boston shouted angrily. "Contact General Boro in Atlantis _Zeus_."

"Yes General," _Zeus_ replied.

General Boston got out of his chair and walked to his office.

xxx

Atlantis

"What did they find?" Dima asked Boro when he entered his office.

"More dead human bodies on the only planet in that star system,," Boro answered and handed Dima a tablet before he sat a chair across from the General.

"Another culling," Dima said angrily and slammed the tablet on his desk..

"Yes," Boro answered.

"How long have they been dead?" Dima asked.

"Six to seven months and that planet also doesn't have a stargate," Boro answered.

"I wonder why the Wraith are using planets without a stargate?" Dima asked,

"To avoid detection and my guess is the Wraith are also hiding on a planet without a stargate," Boro answered. "I think after their brutal civil war the ones that survived decided it was best to keep a very low profile – that's why they're not using the stargate network. This also proves they were in hibernation for a very long time."

"Have there been any sightings of any Wraith ships?" Dima asked.

"No," Boro answered.

"I wonder if the planet where these humans came from have a stargate?" Dima asked.

"That's a good question," Boro answered. "We're still trying to find them, but we're not having any success."

"Keep looking," Dima said.

"We will," Boro replied.

"Dismissed," Dima said.

General Dima sent his and General Boro's report to General Brennan at Stargate Command Headquarters a few hours later.

A week later Earth's Medical Forensic Teams arrived in Atlantis and walked through the stargate to the unknown planet with the Pegasus Medical Forensic Teams.

xxx

Valinor

Manwë Súlimo sat on his throne in the Ring of Doom and gave thought to the Atani, or what remained of them. He nor the other Valar never gave much thought to the rest of the Atani on Arda because they thought they were safe from their brother. Now he and they know that was a mistake and something came to Arda and took the second born Children of Eru Ilúvatar, and it breaks his heart knowing that the _others_ will come to take the remaining Atani away to keep the safe from the _white light_...and Manwë wondered what the _white light_ is and where it came from. He also wondered who and what the woman is who spoke to the Atani Elin in her dreams, and it seems she has some of the powers of an Ainu. He and the other Valar also wondered who the great races are and now know their Atar never showed them all his children. Manwë departed his throne and appeared at the top of Taniquetil and called his wife to his side and together they looked out into space.

"I wonder where the _others_ are?" Varda asked after they saw nothing.

"They're out there somewhere along with many other races," her husband answered and summoned Námo. "Do you know when or how the _others_ will come to Arda?" Manwë asked when he appeared.

"No I don't," he answered.

"Do you know who they are?" Varda asked.

"No, only what our brother told us," Námo answered.

When Námo returned to his Halls he sat on this throne and also gave thought to the Atani, and even he didn't foresee what would happen to them; nor did he foresee the woman in Elin's dream or the other races in Eä.

xxx

Unknown Space

Doctor Jones heard many curses and looked at the sight before him and he too let out a few curses. Both Medical Forensic Teams decided it was best to have their avatars scan the dead and when they finished almost a month later, 100 bodies were taken back to Atlantis through the stargate and the rest were buried in mass graves. The Fleet returned to Atlantis.

xxx

General Dima's Office

"Well doctor," Dima said when he walked into his office a few weeks later and took the tablet Doctor Jones handed him. General Dima knows that Doctor Carter will give his report to General Brennan as soon as they return to Earth.

"It's the same as before sir, they're all human," Jones replied.

"How many this time?" Dima asked.

"Over 9,000 sir," he answered.

"My guess is they're wait another 100 years or so before they make another culling," Dima said.

"It would seem so General, that's their pattern," Jones replied.

"Dismissed," Dima said, and sent his and Doctor Jones' report to General Brennan later that day.

xxx

NORAD - Earth - Ten Days Later

General Taylor knew something big was up when he saw General Boro walk through the stargate with General Dima and suspected it has something to do with the Medical Forensic Teams traveling to and from Atlantis on General Brennan's orders. However, he wasn't told why they were going to Atlantis – only that it was classified and seeing General Boro confirmed it. After he greeted the General's he watched as General Brennan's aide escorted them, their aides and security details out of the gate room. General Taylor heard murmurs among the gate room personnel.

xxx

The Pentagon

Present: General Brennan, the Joint Chiefs and General's Dima and Boro

"Have you found out who sent you the coordinates and how they were sent General Boro?" General Craig Armstrong asked.

"No sir," Boro answered. "_Atlantis_ has run a thorough check three times and we've come up with nothing."

"You have a major security breach in your system," General Allison Stone said to Boro.

"No we don't General," Dima replied coming to Boro's defense.

"Oh," Stone said with a raised eyebrow looking at Dima.

"Someone very powerful sent General Boro those coordinates and my guess is, it's one of the Ancients," Dima replied.

"Why do you think that Stefan?" Brennan asked.

"The Ancients watch over the Pegasus galaxy as well as the Milky Way galaxy. We found the first humans by accident, but someone sent us those coordinates after the second culling, and my guess it, it's one of the Ancients."

"They're not suppose to interfere," General Armstrong said.

"They do when it suites them, and in this case it suited one of them," Dima replied.

"Who was the last Ancient we dealt with Stefan?" Brennan asked.

"Morgan Le Fey ma'am, and she lead Doctor Daniel Jackson to the _Ark of Truth,_" he answered.

"I see you've done your homework General, as you humans like to say," General Jarak (Jaffa male) said.

"Yes I have General," Dima replied.

"Do you think it's Morgan?" General Stone asked.

"Yes I do General," Dima answered. "She's a rogue Ancient and does what she pleases."

"Why would she send us a star map of the Big Dipper?" General Var Rayan (Galaran male) asked.

"That's a mystery to us sir and I think it's related, but we don't know how, yet," Boro answered.

"This is a Pegasus galaxy matter and not a Milky Way galaxy matter General," General Stone said.

"We'll find out how everything is related when Morgan decides to tell us indirectly by leaving us another clue in one of our computers," Dima said.

"In the Pegasus or the Milky Way galaxy General?" General Jarak asked.

"In the Pegasus galaxy sir," Boro answered.

"Why the Pegasus and not the Milky Way galaxy General Boro?" Brennan asked.

"The Wraith culled those humans in the Pegasus galaxy and they're not known for leaving their home galaxy ma'am," he answered.

"How's your search going General?" General Stone asked looking at Boro.

"We're still looking General and I think they're in unchartered space; that's why we're having a hard time finding them," Boro answered.

"You're right General Boro," General Brennan said.

They continued discussing the events in the Pegasus galaxy for another few hours.

xxx

Valinor

Tulkas and Oromë were watching as Eönwë and his fellow Maiar were teaching the Vanyar and Noldor weaponry.

"They learn quickly," Tulkas said.

"They're elves," Oromë replied smiling.

Tulkas smiled at his brother and knew his love for the first born Children of Ilúvatar is beyond measure, the same as all of the Ainur in Aman.

"I wonder who the _others_ are and what makes them one of the great races?" Aulë asked when he appeared next to his brothers.

"We never knew there were other races out there, let along that they've surpassed the elves in all things," Oromë said.

"Their accomplishments must be great," Tulkas said, remembering what the elves achieved in Aman.

"Yet I suspect their accomplishments are very different from the Eldar," Aulë replied.

"What do you mean?" Oromë asked.

"The strange things the _others_ will have that will be beyond the Atani's and Eldar's understanding," Aulë answered.

"We'll know what they are," Oromë said.

"Will we Oromë?" Aulë asked. "We don't know who the woman is who's protecting what's left of the second born Children of Eru Ilúvatar, nor that she existed until now. We also didn't know about the _white light_; and it appears there's a lot we don't know about Eä."

"I wonder what the _others_ look like," Tulkas said.

"Whatever they look like, they're also Atar's children," Aulë replied.

xxx

Atlantis - Three Weeks Later

General Boro was in his office when _Atlantis_ told him he had a classified message. "Thank you _Atlantis_," he said and entered his security code on his computer. The message told him to go the Holo Room and it had a code he'd never seen before, which General Boro downloaded, and then contacted General Dima.

"Ten hut," a Captain said when the Generals entered the Holo Room and everyone stood at attention.

"Dismissed," Dima said and noticed the others were studying a star map.

"Yes sir," the Captain replied and everyone did as they were ordered.

"_Atlantis_ seal the room," Dima said.

"Yes General," he replied.

"Enter the code Boro," Dima said.

"Yes sir," he replied and did so.

"What's wrong?" Dima asked when nothing appeared.

"It's not working or it's the wrong code," Boro answered.

"It's the right code, try again," Dima said and watched as Boro did so and nothing happened.

"Nothing," Boro said after a third try.

"Let me try," Dima said and entered the code and the Holo Room come alive when data appeared around the room.

"It was only the Ancient gene that could retrieve this information," Boro said.

"It appears so," Dima replied with a smile.

The two Generals watched as data from another planet appeared, but couldn't see anything because that system had no sun or moon and they wondered why. They did see lights on one continent, but not on the other continents and heard everything that was being said.

"This is a lot of information and it's going to take a long time to retrieve it," Boro said.

"_Atlantis_ how far back does this data go?" Dima asked.

"Over 25,000 years General," he answered.

"_Atlantis_ how long will it take to download all this information?" Boro asked.

"There's a cloaked probe a few light years from that planet and I'm still receiving data from the probe General," _Atlantis_ answered.

General's Dima and Boro looked at each other.

"We're still receiving real-time information from that star system," Boro said.

"I have a feeling we're also find the Wraith culling that planet," Dima replied.

"I agree Stefan, but we still don't know where it is," Boro said.

"This is the break we've been looking for Boro and we'll take it one step at a time," Dima replied. "_Atlantis_ send everyone you have on that star system to only my and General Boro's computers."

"Yes General," _Atlantis_ replied.

xxx

General Dima's Office

"_Atlantis_ show us the Wraith culling that planet over 100 years ago," Boro said.

"Yes General," he replied.

General's Dima and Boro watched the Wraith culling the humans on the unknown planet.

"_Atlantis_ show us the Wraith hive ships in space," Dima said.

_Atlantis_ did as he was ordered.

"Well I'll be," Dima said when he and Boro saw two hive ships in space above the planet.

"Those two hive ships have joined together, which is not unprecedented," Boro said.

"No it's not," Dima replied. "We have to find the Wraith and when we do, we're going to war with them; and we also have to find those people."

"It appears the Wraith culled only part of the planet, but not all of it and I wonder why," Boro said.

"We'll find out after _Atlantis_ analyzes all of the data," Dima replied and sent a report to General Brennan a few hours later.

xxx

"Hello Jaro," Dima said when he was shown into his office three days later.

"Hello Stefan," he replied. "You know why I'm here."

"Of course," he said and handed him a tablet. General Brennan told General Dima that she was sending General Jaro to Atlantis and to give him a copy of the all the information from that probe. General Jaro is a Dunn and the Head of AGF Intelligence. "_Atlantis_ isn't finished analyzing all the data."

"We know," he answered.

When General Jaro left his office, General Dima knew the Intelligence Divisions in both the Milky Way and the Pegasus galaxies will be analyzing all the data from that probe.

xxx

Two Months Later

"This is a lot of information Stefan," Boro said sitting in his office.

"I know, but we now know how the sun and moon were made in that star system," he replied.

"Who are they?" Boro asked. "They appear to be powerful beings."

"They're what we call angels," Dima answered.

"How do you know?" he asked.

"A little birdie told me," Dima answered with a smile.

"Of course," Boro replied returning the smile. "What are angels?"

General Dima told General Boro the story of human history on earth during dinner that evening. "Now I know why humans are on that planet, but I don't know why the elves are there."

"Most of them live with the angels," Boro said.

"In paradise, while everyone else lives in hell," Dima replied.

"There's a war going on there," Boro said.

"We're not going to get involved in their war," Dima replied. "Our job is to rescue the humans, and the elves are not our concern."

"I noticed some of the elves didn't treat humans with respect when they first met them," Boro said.

"I know," Dima replied, not liking the elves very much. It seemed to him that the majority of the elves thought they were better than humans; and what surprised him was the elves that stayed in the _outer lands_ didn't like the ones that came back, and noticed they could no longer speak the same language. He also observed that the elves who returned to the _other lands_ looked down on their brethren and thought they were better than they were. "How's Colonel Salar coming along with her analysis of the situation on Arda?".

"She has a very unique perspective," Boro answered.

"How so?" Dima asked.

Boro told him what she thought.

"That's very interesting," Dima said. "How did she come up with that?"

"Ironically, she told me it's the same thing that happened on earth with regard to angels and men," he answered.

"Now that I think about it, she's right and I want to read her report," Dima said.

After General Dima read Lieutenant Colonel Salar's report, he forwarded it to General Brennan.

xxx

Earth – General Brennan's Office

"What do you think of Colonel Milan Salar's analysis?" Brennan asked General Jaro a week later.

"It's very unusual ma'am," Jaro answered.

"Yes it is, but there's a lot of truth to it," Brennan said.

"General," he said with a raised eyebrow.

"It's part of our history Jaro," Brennan replied.

"I didn't know that ma'am," he said.

"Our course you wouldn't," she replied. General Brennan didn't tell General Jaro she had to re-read her history and do plenty of research.

They continued discussing data from the probe.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

Earth

General Taylor greeted General's Dima and Boro when they walked through the stargate from Atlantis, along with their aides, security details and a female Lt. Colonel he didn't know.

Lieutenant Colonel Milan Salar is one of the few women who passed her training to become a Member of Delta Force; and even her fellow male trainees were impressed with her grit and determination. Colonel Salar didn't attend the War College on Lantis, but took the ROTC classes at Lantis University and graduated 20th out of a class of 48 students. One of her instructors at the University was a former Member of Delta Force and contacted an old friend who was still a Member and recommended her for their training program.

Lieutenant Colonel Salar is 37 years old and has a son and daughter from a previous relationship.

xxx

The Pentagon

Present: General's Brennan, Jaro, Dima, Boro and Lieutenant Colonel Milan Salar

General Brennan wanted to meet with General's Jaro, Dima, Boro and Colonel Salar before they met with the Joint Chiefs. "Tell me how you came to your conclusions Colonel?" Brennan asked.

"By studying the data ma'am," she answered. "Everyone on Arda is fighting a fallen angel and his army, or more precisely his army because he's hiding underground, and as we all well know, he's never coming out of his bunker. I noticed there was one number, or sign, that kept repeating itself and that's the number 7. The elf Fëanor had seven sons; the elf Fingolfin stabbed Morgoth, the fallen angel, seven times, and Húrin – while swinging a mighty battle axe – swung it 70 times, killing 70 orcs and kept saying _day will come again,_ 70 times."

"How do you know it was 70 times each Colonel?" General Jaro asked.

"I counted them sir, and I did that three times," she answered. "I looked up our history and found out the number 7 represents God and also perfection and completeness; and 7 x 10 is 70 and that number is in the Old Testament."

"Such as what Húrin did," Brennan said.

"Yes ma'am," Salar replied. "Húrin did that almost 70 years ago and everyone in Aman is preparing for war."

"And they'll arrive seventy years later," Dima said, impressed with the Colonel's research.

"Yes sir, and I surmised that's what Húrin meant when he kept saying _day will come again_," Salar replied.

"What made you consult your religious texts for the answers Colonel?" Boro asked.

"It was there for everyone to see sir, but the angels and elves didn't recognize the signs because those signs represent God and they don't know that, but we do. I also paid attention to what the humans were doing and saying on Arda, and He did the exact same thing there as He did on earth. After men awoke on Arda they did all the heavy lifting because he was going after his fallen son; and He sent two men into Angband and they both walked out of Angband, and so did the female who was with the first man. Humans are also the only ones who're sent to pronounce the angels dooms to them – and Húrin did that to Morgoth," she answered.

"The same way Enoch pronounced the Watchers' doom," General Brennan said smiling.

"Yes ma'am," Salar replied.

"Now we know why humans were found in the Pegasus galaxy," General Jaro said.

"Yes General, and it's part of the doom they're under," Dima answered.

"Why do you think we were sent a star map of the Big Dipper," General Brennan asked her.

"I don't know General," she answered and pulled up the unknown star system from her tablet, along with the Sol System. "That system is very different from the Sol System and has no other planet, but Arda."

"But it does have the Big Dipper," Dima said.

Colonel Salar overlaid the star maps and studied them. "You're right sir, and I missed that," she replied. "A thought occurred to me while I was studying the two star maps. What if we entered the coordinates to earth in the Pegasus galaxy and see where it takes us. When we travel to any galaxy we enter the coordinates to that galaxy and then the coordinates to where we're going."

"What made you think of that Colonel?" Jaro asked.

"The star map told us sir, and my gut tells me that planet is located where earth is in the Milky Way galaxy," she answered.

"Very good analysis Colonel," Brennan said smiling at her. "You're going back to Atlantis and this is what I want you to do..."

"Yes ma'am," she replied.

xxx

Atlantis

"_Atlantis_ seal this room," Salar said when she walked into the Holo Room.

"Yes Colonel," he replied and did so.

"_Atlantis_ bring up the star map of the Pegasus galaxy," she said and watched as a star map of the Pegasus galaxy appeared around the room. Colonel Salar then entered the coordinates to earth in the Pegasus galaxy. "Where does this take us in the Pegasus galaxy _Atlantis_?"

"To the planet where the probe is located Colonel," _Atlantis_ answered.

"Thank you _Atlantis_," she said.

xxx

Earth – General Brennan's Office

"We found them," General Boro said looking at his tablet after Colonel Salar returned to General Brennan's office with the information.

"They're at war on that planet General," Dima said.

"I know, and we're not going to get involved in their war and we'll leave that to others," Brennan replied.

"I have an idea ma'am," Salar said to Brennan.

"Tell me about it Colonel," she replied.

"I've looked over the data and...," she said.

"Why Colonel?" Brennan asked.

"They're humans General, and they work for the fallen angel and we've seen what they're done to our fellow humans over the many years," she answered.

"I'll think about it Colonel," she said.

"Thank you ma'am," Salar replied.

xxx

"Why is Colonel Salar sitting behind a desk?" Brennan asked Dima and Boro when they returned to her office after meeting with the Joint Chiefs

"She's very good at what she does," Boro answered.

"Yes she is and she also excels in field work," Brennan said. "I've read her record and she's a rare bird and can do both."

"She has two children General," Dima replied.

"We all have children Stefan and I thought we were beyond that," Brennan said. "Who put her behind a desk?"

"General Carmichael after she returned from maternity leave," Boro answered.

"Did she ever have any dealings with General Carmichael?" Brennan asked.

"Not that I'm aware of General," Boro answered.

"General Carmichael's youngest son was also in training to be a Member of Delta Force that year, but washed out after he was defeated by Milan Salar in a martial arts duel and knife fighting. She has a black belt in aikido and a brown belt in karate and is an expert in Japanese tantō, which are short swords or daggers. He was no match for her and she was the last one chosen to join Delta Force that year. Colonel Salar was taught by a Japanese Master on Lantis for many years – who never forgot the old ways," General Brennan told them.

"Now I know why she defeated Adam Carmichael," General Dima said.

"It seems to me that General Carmichael held a grudge against Colonel Salar, and in spite of that, she rose through the ranks and she's now a Lieutenant Colonel. Then I looked up Adam Carmichael's record and I found that he was a Major for a long time before he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, and that was done before his father retired. Apparently someone owed General Carmichael a favor and he called it in. When I went over the records of the other two candidates who also applied for the same position, I found that they were better qualified. That position was for a Team Leader for one of the SG Intelligence Teams and Major Carmichael had no intelligence training, but the other two candidates did, and they got screwed. Adam Carmichael was destined to be no more than a Major, and due to his father's position and influence, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel.

Unlike Adam Carmichael, Colonel Salar rose through the ranks quickly because of her field work, which is highly classified. She was a Captain at 26 and was promoted to Major shortly after she turned 29. At the age of 34 she was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and that's when she was sat down – and we all know you don't get promoted sitting behind a desk. However, in this case it backfired on the Retired General Malcolm Carmichael because she's the one who came up with the answers to our questions by sitting behind that desk. Gentlemen, you have an asset in Colonel Salar that's not being fully utilized and this is what I'm going to do...," Brennan told them.

General's Dima and Boro both knew who promoted Adam Carmichael and Major General Richard Sterling, the Commander of the Atlantis gate room, retired unexpectedly after 38 years of service, ten days after he promoted him.

xxx

One Week Later

President Sheila Curtis met with General's Brennan, Jaro and the Joint Chiefs in her private conference room next to the Oval Office and they laid out everything for her. If she was surprised, she didn't show it. After hearing the classified report President Curtis okayed General Brennan's recommendations.

xxx

Pegasus Galaxy - Atlantis

Brigadier General David Boston was ordered to General Boro's office after he returned from earth. "Sir," Boston said after reading the classified orders General Boro handed him.

"Report back to me with your findings. You're to use your wormhole drive and be cloaked at all times," Boro said.

"Yes sir," Boston replied.

"Dismissed," Boro said.

xxx

On-board the _Zeus_

"General," David Boston's pilot said when he told him what coordinates to enter into the computer.

"Just do it Captain," Boston said.

"Yes sir," he replied and did as he was ordered.

"Bring the wormhole drive on-line and cloak the ship," Boston ordered.

"The ship is cloaked and the wormhole drive is on-line General," _Zeus_ replied.

"Let's see where those coordinates to us Captain," Boston said.

"Yes sir," he replied.

xxx

Unknown Space

"Where are we?" Boston asked when they arrived above an unknown planet.

"We're still in the Pegasus galaxy General," _Zeus_ answered.

"I want a deep scan of that planet and this entire star system _Zeus_ and send the results to my computer in my office on my classified channel when you're finished," Boston told his avatar.

"Yes General," _Zeus_ said and began scanning.

xxx

Atlantis

"Report General," Boro said when David Boston walked into his office.

"You're not going to believe this sir," Boston said and handed a tablet to Boro and they discussed what he found.

xxx

After Colonel Salar returned to Atlantis she was ordered to study the information the probe sent regarding the men in the Northwestern part of Arda, whom the other men called Easterlings. She saw the revolt against the Easterlings and some of the ones who revolted went into hiding, and the probe kept track of them and theirs and the Easterlings' descendants.

xxx

"Thank you Colonel," Boro said when she handed him her report on the Easterlings.

"You're welcome sir," she replied.

"Here are your new orders Colonel," he said and slid a tablet across his desk.

"Thank you sir," she replied and picked up the tablet.

"Dismissed," Boro said.

xxx

Atlantis Shipyards

"At ease Colonel," Colonel Jonathan Banks said after she saluted him. "Follow me."

"Yes sir," Salar replied. Colonel Salar had never been to the Atlantis shipyards and was surprised by its size and admired the avatars at work.

"This is your new ship Colonel," Banks said when they arrived at one of the hangers.

"What's her name?" she asked staring up at the sleek black ship.

"The _Arc Royal_," Banks answered.

"She's beautiful,"she said.

"Yes she is and she's unlike our other vessels. Here are the schematics and specs," Banks replied and handed her a tablet.

"Thank you sir," she said and took the tablet.

xxx

When Colonel Salar returned to her office she studied the schematics of her new ship. The _Arc Royal_ is an Intelligence vessel, and is 300 meters in length with 10 decks; has 2 Asgard beam weapons; 300 missiles; thousands of mini-drones; 6 forward energy beam cannons with 15 bolts each, and 14 turrets. The Colonel thought the payload was impressive for a small ship and she'll have a crew of 125 and she'll pick her First and Second Officers. The _Arc Royal_ also has a cloak and a wormhole drive.

xxx

General Dima's Office

"_Atlantis_ show us where the humans are located on that planet," Dima said.

"Yes General," _Atlantis_ replied.

"They're everywhere," Boro said looking at the planet in real time.

"But most of them are in the South, which should make our job easier," Dima replied.

"How are we going to evacuate them?" Boro asked.

"The stargates," Dima answered. "We're also going to take care of the problem in the Northwest," Dima answered.

"We've got the go ahead to go to war against the Easterlings," Boro said.

"Yes," Dima replied.

"How are we going to proceed?" Boro asked.

"You of all people should know that answer Boro," Dima said laughing.

Boro smiled.

xxx

Arda - Four Weeks Later

One of Elin's folk married one of Balin's folk and they were having a wedding feast near the river and there was plenty of game, fish, fruits and vegetables and Elin smiled when she saw the children playing. After the feast and after the newlyweds departed and the children were put to bed, some of the adults talked by the river.

"The woman in my dream told me last night that the _others_ have found us, but it'll be awhile before they come for us," Elin told the others.

"Did she tell you why Elin?" Balin asked.

"No," she answered.

"How did they find us?" Haldor asked perplexed.

"She didn't tell me," Elin answered.

"Did she tell you how they're going to get here?" one of Balin's folk asked.

"No she didn't," Elin answered.

Ulmo told the Valar that the _others_ have found the Atani and the conversation Elin had with Balin and the other Atani.

xxx

Arvernien - South Beleriand

Anwen is 16 years old and lives with her 12 year old brother Adair. Anwen began taking care of her younger brother after their mother became ill 6 years ago and died shortly thereafter; and her father died a year before. Anwen and her brother live in a squalid 2 room house in the one the refugee camps in Arvernien and she does all the cleaning and cooking. Anwen wants to leave Arvernien and make something of herself, and knows how to read and write and enjoys teaching her younger brother and some of the other children. A woman spoke to her in her dreams a few times and told her that the _others_ are coming to take her and her brother to a better place, but the woman also told Anwen she didn't know when they'll arrive. She also told Anwen the _others_ will have many strange things with them, but those things will not hurt her or her brother. When Anwen told Adair about the woman in her dreams and about the _others,_ he was overjoyed and told his friends. That's how everyone in Arvernien found out about the _others_.

For the few weeks there was much debate about the _others_, who they are and where they're coming from, and some wondered when they'll arrive, while others were skeptical. One woman told them a woman also spoke to her in her dreams and told her about the _others_, and they will not hurt us and we could trust them. A man confirmed the woman's story about the _others_.

xxx

"Are we leaving when the _others_ arrive Anwen?" Adair asked.

"Yes we are?" she answered.

"Do you know where the _others_ are taking us?" Adair asked.

"No I don't, but the woman in my dream told me we'll never have to worry about dark things again," she answered.

"Are there going to be elves where we're going?" he asked.

"No, only mortals," she answered.

xxx

Atlantis – General Dima's Office

"Why did you pick Major Henry Daniels as your First Officer?" Dima asked Salar.

"He has an excellent record and passed his Marine Special Forces training. He started his career as a Special Forces Operative with one of the stargate teams before he was transferred to a ship years later. Major Daniels has proven he has command of the ground and space sir," she answered.

"Who did you choose Captain Cruz as your Second Officer?" Boro asked.

"Captain Maria Cruz was assigned as a Security Officer onboard a ship after she graduated from the Marine Academy. She's now Chief of Security onboard the _Falcon_ and is an excellent Commander. Someone at the Marine Academy put a notation in her file and thought she'll command her own boat one day, and after reading her record I agree, because she certainly knows her way around a ship."

"Colonel Salar is very good at spotting talent," Boro said to Dima after she left his office.

"She'll go far, along with the two she chose as her First and Second Officer," he replied.

xxx

When Major Henry Daniels was told he was chosen to be the First Officer of the _Arc Royal_, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and was handed his new orders.

General Ming told Daniels about the First Officer position onboard the _Arc Royal, _and suggested he apply for that position; and like any good officer, he saluted and did as he was ordered. Henry Daniels was genuinely surprised that he was chosen.

Captain Maria Cruz was ecstatic when she found out she was chosen to be the Second Officer of the _Arc Royal_, and the 30 year old was promoted to Major when she returned to Atlantis and then received her new orders.

Lieutenant Colonel Henry Daniels and Major Marie Cruz met their Commanding Officer when they arrived at the Atlantis shipyards. She gave them a tour of the ship and told them the _Arc Royal_ is an Intelligence vessel.

"The _Arc Royal_ is a real beauty ma'am," Cruz said while they were having lunch after their tour of the ship.

"I think so," Salar replied. "Colonel Daniels and I have a meeting on earth in a few days and I want all the systems checked and double checked and make sure this ship is in tip top shape Major. When we return we're going on our shakedown cruise."

"I will ma'am," Cruz said smiling.

"I know you will," Salar replied.

The rest of the Senior Staff reported for duty later that day.

xxx

"Do you know why we haven't walked through the stargate yet sir?" Sgt. Desmond asked his Commander a week later.

"No I don't Sargent," Carmichael answered. "Our orders are to wait."

"Off-world activation," a Corporal said. "It's coming from earth General."

Major General Lei Ming was looking down when she saw Lt. Colonel Carmichael's jaw drop when he saw General's Dima, Boro, Colonel Milan Salar and Lt. Colonel Henry Daniels walk through the stargate from earth with their aides and security detail. General Ming noticed Colonel Carmichael never took his eyes off the eagles on Colonel Salar's collars, and saw envy on his face. She knew his father couldn't help him now and Henry Daniels finally got the promotion he deserved.

"I'll be damned," Carmichael said softly under his breath and noticed Colonel Salar never saw him and was talking to Henry Daniels. Adam Carmichael hasn't seen Milan Salar since she defeated him all those years ago.

xxx

"She's a what?" Retired General Malcolm Carmichael asked with a stunned look on his face.

"She's now a full bird dad," Adam answered. When Adam returned from his mission off-world, he went to his parents home and told his father about Colonel Salar.

"How the hell did she became a full Colonel?" his father asked still surprised.

"I don't know dad, but she was with General's Dima and Boro when they returned to Atlantis from earth," he answered.

"Do you know why they went to earth?" his father asked.

"No I don't," Adam answered.

"Something big is going on in the Pegasus galaxy son. When Colonel Salar passed her training she was assigned to Delta Force Intelligence and I never had access to her files," he said. "General Boro is also a Member of Delta Force and now you know why he's the Head of Intelligence in the Pegasus galaxy. Don't ask me how I know that and never repeat it to anyone."

"I won't dad," Adam replied. True to his word, Adam Carmichael never told anyone what his father told him.

"A word to the wise son, don't every cross General Boro and stay out of his way...he's ruthless and hard as they come," his father told him. Retired General Malcolm Carmichael knew Adam had hit a wall – as most Majors do – and now knows others know what he did, and they'll make sure Adam will never rise about the rank of Lt. Colonel, but he'll never tell his son that.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

**NOTE: East Arda is Hildórien and where men awoke. The Southern Continent is known as the Hither Lands on the Map of Arda during the First Age, and it's the continent of Africa.**

Onboard the _Arc Royal_

The Command Staff for the _Arc Royal_ is as follows: Colonel Milan Salar, Commander; Lieutenant Colonel Henry Daniels, First Officer; Major Maria Cruz, Second Officer and Chief of Security; Captain Lara (a Female Naring), Pilot; Captain Adon (Male Vella), Chief of Engineering; Captain Carl Maxwell, Chief Weapons Officer; Samuel Brice, Chief Petty Officer, and _Arc Royal_, the avatar. Doctor Lisa Connors is a civilian and the Chief Medical Officer.

The bridge is on deck 5 and the Command Chair sits on a round platform in the center of the bridge with a command console on both sides of the Command Chair; where the Commander can access all the ship systems at once, which will appear in front of him or her in a holographic display. The pilot's station is front and center with a station on it's left and right. Those three stations are between a large vertical view screen that extends from the deck to the ceiling and ends at the two vertical reinforced shield emitters, which also extends from the desk to the ceiling.

The Weapons Control Center is left of the Command Chair and is manned by two officers; and on the right of the Command Chair is the Engineering Control Center, also manned by two officers – and Operations is part of Engineering and not a separate department. These two Control Centers extend the length of the bulk heads, and all stations and consoles are sleek and black and none are embedded in the bulk heads.

To the aft of the of the bridge is the conference room that seats ten and the Commander's office is next to the conference room. The Second Officer's conference rooms is part of his or her office; and the Commander's and First Officer's quarters are also on deck 5.

xxx

"Take us out of the hanger Captain Lara," Salar said sitting in her chair.

"Yes ma'am," she replied with a smile and engaged the thrusters.

Lt. Colonel Daniels and Major Cruz were also on the bridge.

"We're in open space Colonel," Lara said.

"Engage the hyper drive," she replied.

"Yes ma'am," Lara said and opened a window to hyperspace and the _Arc Royal_ jumped in.

xxx

"How was your shakedown cruise?" General Boro asked Salar a week later.

"Everything worked splendidly sir," she answered with a smile.

"Here are yours and Colonel Daniels' new orders," he said and handed her a tablet.

"Thank you sir," she replied.

"Dismissed," he said.

xxx

Colonel Salar's Office

Colonel's Salar and Daniels were ordered to draw up a battle plan for Operation Retribution by General Boro.

"What the hell is that thing?" Daniels asked.

"It's called Angband and it's where the fallen angel lives underground," Salar answered.

"I'm not surprised," Daniels said, and knew that throughout history most dictators and despots hide underground during wartime.

"Those three peaks are hollow and slag and other foul things come through them. Angband is very large and has many levels and underground bunkers. They're also hideous monsters and other things in there. The fallen angels' army is what everyone calls orcs," Salar told Daniels.

"They lost to those things?" Daniels asked with a raised eyebrow after seeing what an orc looked like.

"They were outnumbered and were betrayed by the men who fought on the side of the fallen angel, and after their victory he betrayed the men who fought for him," she answered. "The elves and men were very good at defending their own lands, but they weren't really soldiers and left their flanks vulnerable."

Daniels also noticed their vulnerable flanks and shook his head. Then he watched what the Balrogs did to men and elves after the _Battle of Unnumbered Tears_, as it was called by the survivors. "That was disgusting," he said with angry look on his face.

"I know," she replied. "I've also studied the eagles and they only watch the elves and that'll make our job easier. The men who work for the fallen angel are located here; and they're many orcs in that area and they too will have to be dealt with."

"Is that what I think it is?" Daniels asked an hour later.

"Yes, and Gondolin fell," she answered.

"Why did it fall?" he asked.

"I'll show you," she replied.

"I'm glad it fell," he said after seeing the recording and hearing the explanation from Salar.

Colonel's Salar and Daniels studied the recordings for another week and came up with a battle plan to present to General's Dima and Boro.

xxx

General Dima's Office

"The Easterlings are here and they're orcs and other things in the surrounding mountains sirs," Salar told Dima and Boro.

"We're going to have to take care of the orcs first sirs. I'm going to set-up my command post here and we'll...," Daniels said. "Those encircling mountains are also a death trap."

The Generals agreed.

"I think we might encounter the army from Aman before we get all the humans off that planet sirs," Salar told them.

"Why do you say that Colonel?" Boro asked.

"It's just a feeling I have sir," she answered. "If we do, we'll not hinder them in any way, but they're going to have to go around us and I'm going to need someone with a higher rank to tell them that."

"Someone with a higher rank will be there to tell them that Colonel," Dima said.

"Thank you sir," she replied.

"The people in the South and East are scattered and I think we should get them out first – and as soon as possible – and lead them to a central location converging on the stargate; and we're going to have to cut through a mountain to make travel easier for the ones on the Southern Continent sirs," Daniels said.

They studied the live feeds.

"You're right Colonel," Dima said.

"The people in the Northwest live on farms or in villages and that should make our jobs easier, but they're a lot people in this coastal area living in squalor," Colonel Salar said pointing to Arvernien.

General Dima was angry after seeing how his fellow humans lived in comparison to the elves.

They discussed more details of the mission before General Dima dismissed the Colonels.

"We're going to use only one stargate Boro and we're going to start moving those people out before Colonel's Salar, Daniels and the others begin their mission," Dima said.

xxx

The 41 year old Lieutenant Colonel Frank Oliver, from Logistics, was promoted to Colonel and was handed his new orders.

Major Michael Corrina was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and he too was given his new orders. Michael Corrina is one of the Major's who applied for the position that Adam Carmichael received, and thought he got shafted. Michael Corrina is a Member of the Army Special Forces, but not Delta Force, and he rose through the ranks as a Member of a Stargate Army Special Forces Team. He's also good friends with Henry Daniels and lives with his sister Cara, and they have two children.

xxx

When Colonel Corrina entered the conference room he was surprised to see Henry Daniels and that he too is now a Lieutenant Colonel and walked over and sat next to him. "Congratulations Henry," Corrina said with a grin on his face.

"Same to you Michael," Daniels replied noticing the silver oak leafs on his collars and returned the smile. He saw Corrina looking around the room after he sat down. "Who are you looking for Michael?"

"Adam Carmichael," he answered.

"This is a classified meeting and Adam Carmichael's daddy can't help his son anymore," Daniels said.

"That's true," Corrina replied and laughed.

"When are you going to marry my sister?" Henry asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I proposed to her last month and she accepted," he answered.

"It's about time," Henry said smiling.

xxx

"Colonel," Frank Oliver said when he sat next to the only female Colonel in the room.

"Colonel," she replied. "I'm Milan Salar."

"I'm Frank Oliver," he said.

"Ten hut," a Major said when he walked into the room followed by General's Dima, Boro and Thos (an Iden). General Thos is a Major General (2 stars).

Everyone stood at attention.

"At ease," Dima said after he, Boro and Thos took their seats on the dais.

xxx

Lieutenant Colonel Adam Carmichael was surprised to see Colonel Salar walk into the mess talking to another Colonel he didn't know and they were followed by Lieutenant Colonel's Corrina, Daniels and six others. He'd heard that Colonel Salar is the Commander of her own ship and Henry Daniels is her First Officer, and saw a few officers congratulate Corrina and Daniels on their promotions. Adam Carmichael got up from his table and left the mess.

xxx

"Good luck Colonel," General Ming said to Frank Oliver a few weeks later.

"Thank you General," he replied.

"Dial Gaia Corporal," she said.

"Yes ma'am," he replied, and the chevrons began to encode.

xxx

"Welcome to Gaia Colonel," Major Naya (an Aldan) said after saluting her boss.

"Thank you Major," he replied. "Is everything up on running?"

"Yes sir, right this way," she answered.

Colonel Oliver saw a large tent city as far as the eye could see. When he arrived at his tent, he stowed his gear and walked to the Officer's mess with Major Naya.

"Here are the schematics for the tent city sir. As you can see, they're many communal baths and mess tents," she said during lunch.

Colonel Oliver studied the schematics. "When these people start arriving and after they've settle in, I want them to help prepare their own food and they're to be shown how to clean their baths, which must be cleaned daily," he told his aide.

"Yes sir," she said.

The next day Colonel Oliver, Major Naya and others toured the continent where the humans from Arda will call home. The Colonel suspected that the ones who lived by the sea will also want to live by the sea on Gaia, and the ones who lived in the forest will want to live in a forest on their new home. He saw the Wraith culling on Arda and some of the other classified intelligence and it sickened him – and he's glad for the Henry Daniels of the world.

xxx

Lieutenant Colonel Michael Corrina and his Team were transported to one of the cargo bays aboard the _Fitzgerald,_ a Logistics vessel. When they arrived Corrina went over the cargo manifest with Major Johnson before they departed. Colonel Corrina and his Team were chosen for this assignment because they're expert horsemen and women.

When the _Fitzgerald_ arrived above Arda, Members of the Army Corp of Engineers and their security team were transported to the Southern Continent to cut through a mountain; and no one saw the stargate being transported to the planet, nor the _others_ when they arrived because they were cloaked. The stargate was located in the central part on East Arda and out of the sight of the locals, and was well guarded.

Colonel Corrina and his Team were transported to the Northern part of East Arda and Major Simon Howard and his Team were transported to the Southern part of East Arda.

xxx

"Who are they?" a man asked a few days later when he saw riders riding towards them.

"Hello," one rider said when he and his men and women rode up to them.

"Who are you?" the village elder asked.

"We're the _others_," the lead rider answered.

"You're mortals," the village elder said with wide-eyed surprise and heard murmurs from his people, and noticed the _others_ clothes were different and they had strange things he'd never seen before.

'Yes we are, and we've come to take you to your new home," the rider answered.

"How are we going to get there?" a woman walked up and asked.

"Through one of the strange things," another man answered. "My mother told me before she died that you'll come for us and save us from the _white light_ and we could trust you.

"Your mother was right sir, and the _white light_ will not hurt any of you again, and the strange thing is a few days ride from here," the rider said and got off his horse. "I'm Lieutenant Colonel Michael Corrina."

"I'm Goran, the villager elder," a man replied, who was standing close to the Colonel.

Colonel Corrina told Goran that other riders were escorting the remaining people in the South to the strange thing; and the wagons they brought with them have plenty of food, blankets and water for their journey.

Goran thanked the Colonel and told his people to pack.

The villagers packed their meager belongings and were ready to leave a few hours later. If anyone was watching Hildórien they would've seen the Atani being escorted by the _others_ and were traveling to the stargate from the north and the south. However, no one was paying attention to the Atani in Hildórien.

During their journey South the women and girls prepared the meals and Goran and the other men ate with the Colonel and asked him many questions. Some questions the Colonel answered, but he told them their other questions will be answered when they arrive at their new home.

The women and girls thought it was strange the some of the female soldiers told some of the men what to do, and they did what they were told.

xxx

"This is the strange thing?" Goran asked wide-eyed a few days later. He'd never seen anything like it before.

"Yes it is sir," Corrina answered.

The Atani were awed by the strange thing and many were frightened and apprehensive and were surprised to see other mortals guarding it and they were also dressed the same way.

"You have only a few hundred people with you Major," Corrina said to Howard when he walked up to him after they arrived an hour later."

"Two-hundred and twenty-six sir, and this is all the Wraith left after their second culling," he answered. "How many do you have sir?"

"Only a little over a hundred more than you do," Corrina answered. "Let's get these people out of here."

"Yes sir," Howard said.

Colonel Corrina explained that the strange thing is called a stargate and how its works. "Who wants to go first?" he asked.

"I'll go first," the man who's mother told him about the _others_.

"My father told me about you and the strange thing and I'll go with him," a woman from the South said.

"They're other mortals waiting for you on the other side and they're show you around your new home, and when the two of you return you can tell the others," Corrina said.

They agreed.

"Dial the gate Sargent," Corrina said.

"Yes sir," he replied and started dialing the stargate.

The Atani jumped back when the event horizon shot out and watched as it came to rest. The woman from the South took a female soldiers hand and a male soldier took the man's hand and they walked through the stargate together. When they reached the other side, they were welcomed by other mortals with open arms.

xxx

The Atani jumped back again when the event horizon opened and they saw the woman and man walked though the stargate with their escorts and they had smiles on their faces.

"How's our new home Goran?" a male villager asked.

"It's beautiful, but very different," he answered smiling and told them what they saw.

"How are our horses getting to our new home?" a man from Southern Hildórien asked.

"Another strange thing," Corrina answered and noticed no one asked what it was. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes," Goran answered, speaking for all of them.

Colonel Oliver watched from a distance as the first humans from Arda walked through the stargate...and his heart broke when he saw those ragged people. The Colonel saw the awe on their faces when they looked around and their smiles when their fellow mortals greeted them and welcomed them to their new home.

After everyone settled in they were taken to one of the barns near-by to retrieve their belongings.

The next morning Goran and the other village elders from the North and South were introduced to the Colonel and had breakfast with him. The Colonel asked them where they wanted to live and they told him they all wanted to live by the sea.

The Colonel smiled.

xxx

Major Simon Howard and his Team were transported to the Southern Continent a week later. The Atani were also surprised to see that the _others_ were mortals like themselves. They were shocked when they were escorted to a mountain and saw a hole in it which they could walk through and wondered how it got there...and saw others like themselves when they arrived on the other side. The elders of the villages asked the Major many questions each evening during dinner and he answered the ones he could. They also thanked him for providing food and water while they were traveling to the strange thing.

Major Howard explained to them when they arrived at their destination – after the murmurs ceased – how the strange thing worked. He also reassured them that the strange thing will not hurt them and that they too travel through one all the time, and saw the relief on many of their faces.

A few volunteers walked through the stargate with a few soldiers and returned a few hours later and told their people what was waiting for them on the other side. After everyone walked through the stargate, with some trepidation, Major Howard, his Team and the stargate were transported aboard the _Fitzgerald_ over a month later.

The Fleet above Atlantis engaged their cloaks and wormhole drives when they received word that Major Howard had returned to the _Fitzgerald_.

xxx

"The ship is yours Major," Salar said when they arrived above Arda.

"Yes ma'am," she replied and watched her Commander leave the bridge. Major Cruz knew everyone will be there awhile.

"Welcome to your Command Post Colonel," Lieutenant Colonel Rana Shaw from Logistics said, saluting when Colonel Salar was transported somewhere in Arda.

"At ease Colonel," Salar said and looked around at the large tent city. "I see everything is up and running."

"Yes ma'am. Right this way Colonel," Shaw replied and escorted the Colonel to her tent.

After Colonel Salar was transported to the surface, Lt. Colonel Michael Corrina and his Team were transported to Arda very close to their destination.

xxx

Elin looked up from what she was doing when she heard horses and saw many riders and wondered who they were. It had been years since any of them have seen another mortal.

"Hello ma'am," the lead rider said when he rode up to her.

"Hello," Elin replied and noticed the other riders didn't move and saw many wagons and wondered where they were going.

"I believe you've been expecting us," the rider said when he got off his horse and walked up to her.

Elin looked at the man and then the other riders. "You're the _others_," she said, remembering what the woman in her dream told her – that they'll recognize the _others_ when they see them.

"Yes we are," he replied smiling at her.

"Elin, what's wrong?" Eleanor asked when she saw the look on her face when she walked up to her.

"Nothing," she answered still staring at the man. "Run and tell Balin the _others_ are here."

Eleanor ran to the river where the men were talking and having tea while the women were preparing lunch. "The _others_ have arrived and they're talking to Elin," Eleanor told everyone.

"The _others_ are here?" Haldor asked surprised.

"Yes father," Eleanor answered excitedly.

"Let's go," Balin said and everyone ran to Elin.

They stopped when they saw the riders were mortals and many had their mouths hanging open.

"Elin," Balin said when he walked up to her.

"Balin, this is Lt. Colonel Michael Corrina," Elin replied, still stunned.

"Hello sir," Corrina said.

"Hello," Balin replied looking him and the _others_ on their horses. "We were just about to have lunch, would all of you like to join us?" he asked.

"We don't want to put you out sir," the Colonel answered.

"There's plenty of food," Elin said, finally smiling.

"We accept ma'am," he replied.

Everyone stared at the _others_ when they arrived at the river and got off their horses and out of their wagons.

"Are you really mortals like we are?" Delmar asked when he walked up to them.

"Yes we are," Corrina answered. "But we don't call ourselves mortals – even though we're all mortal. We call ourselves humans, or human beings, and we're all part of the human race, including all of you."

xxx

"What kind of name is Lieutenant Colonel?" Balin asked Corrina during lunch.

"It's a military rank sir and we're all soldiers and part of a vast army," Corrina answered and explained the ranks in the military.

"You're soldiers?" Haldor asked surprised.

"Yes we are sir," Corrina answered.

"Including the females?" Elin asked, looking around at the female soldiers.

"Yes ma'am," Corrina answered.

"You allow females to fight," one of Balin's men folk asked with a shocked look on his face.

"They've been soldiers for many hundreds of years and our Supreme Commander is a female," Corrina answered.

Murmurs among the Atani and Elin, Eleanor and many of the other women smiled.

"What are those things all of you have across your backs and around your waists?" Eleanor asked.

"They're our weapons," Corrina answered.

"Where are your bows, arrows and swords?" Delmar asked.

"We don't use those anymore and we haven't for a very long time. Warfare has changed and we fight what we call _modern warfare. _Wars are now very complicated because of the strange things we use, and they must be planned to the last detail and you have to know everything about your enemy before the first shot is fired. The weapons used in _modern warfare_ are very devastating and you never want to see what they can do," Corrina answered.

"Why do you use them?" Balin asked.

"We grew up with them and that's all we know; but to use these weapons one must be a soldier and you need permission to do so," Corrina answered.

"What are the things called across your backs and around your waists?" one of Elin's folk asked.

"Guns," Corrina answered.

xxx

"What is our new home like?" Elin said.

"It's very beautiful, yet very different from here, and they're two moons above your planet and one is habitable – that means you can live on it," Corrina replied.

"When?" Eleanor asked with a bright smile on her face.

"Not for a while yet," Corrina answered returning the smile. "When you arrive at your new home other humans will be waiting for you and help you get settled. We're also going to give each of your children an education because there's a lot they need to learn and it's going to help them in the future."

"Will we be safe from the _white light_?" Haldor asked.

"Yes you will sir and the _white light_ will never hurt any of you again," Corrina answered. "The _white light_ has been around a long time and it's very old and extremely hard to kill. No one has seen the _white light_ for many hundreds of years – until now – and we don't know how the _white light_ found you, but they did; and the woman in your dreams was not suppose to interfere."

"But she saved us," one of Elin's folk said.

"I know, and she did that because you're humans and she loves all of you very much," Corrina answered.

"The woman in my dreams told me you're going to war with the _white light_," Elin said.

"Yes we are ma'am, when we find it," Corrina replied.

"When you go to war with the _white light_, can I come with you?" Haldor asked. "The _white light_ killed my wife and I want to see you kill it."

"That's not going to bring your wife back sir," Corrina said sympathetically. "When we go to war with the _white light_ that's going to be very ugly and you don't want to see that."

"How did a female become your Supreme Commander?" Balin asked.

"She earned that position and was chosen by our President," Corrina answered and told them about their system of government after seeing the confused looks on their faces at the word President.

"The people rule?" Haldor asked surprised.

"Yes we do, and we always have through our elected representatives," Corrina answered. "No one is given anything where we come from and everyone earns everything they get, and the Rule of Law is paramount, and no one is above the law, no matter their position."

"Your ways are strange," one of Balin's folk said.

"Not to us," Corrina answered smiling at the woman.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

**NOTE: A **_**Greek Tragedy**_** is the tragic outcome as a result of a character's personal flaws. They're doomed from the outset, no matter what they try to do.**

"The woman in my dream told me the _others_ are one of the great races," Elin said. "How did mortals become a great race?"

"We were designated a great race by one of the great races long ago. The four great races were the Ancients, Asgards, Furlings and Nox; however, the Ancients were the first great race and they awoke well over 60 million years ago and very far away from here. It was the Asgards who designated humans the fifth great race shortly after we met them. The Ancients, Nox and Furlings became so great and powerful, they could no longer walk among us and had to leave; and the women who spoke to you in your dreams is an Ancient," Corrina answered.

Elin nodded her head.

"You're not from here," Balin said. "Where are you from?"

"We come from a place that's very far away from here and we're much older than you," Corrina answered.

"Why are you older than we are?" Eleanor asked, sitting next to her father.

"Captain Carmen Sanchez will tell you the short version of why we were awaken before any of you," Corrina answered.

Captain Sanchez walked over to the table on the Colonel's order and sat next to him and introduced herself. "I'm going to tell you the reason why we were awaken first – and everything goes back to the beginning. Before there was anything or anyone, there was only the Lord God, who's the Supreme Being and the Creator of all things. The Lord God lives in a place we call heaven, which means a high holy place; and the first children he created were the angels who live with Him in heaven and they're His helpers. The word angel means Messenger of God, and they're pure spirits without bodies, and that's what makes them different from us, among other things. In the beginning..., and therein ends Book 1 of the _Books of Genesis_. The angels came in Book 2 of the _Books of Genesis,_ and we came in Book 3 of the _Books of Genesis_. The Lord God also said: _I am the Alpha and the Omega – which means, I am the beginning and the end_. The words Alpha and Omega are Greek, and Alpha means, the beginning and Omega means, the end. The word angel also comes the Greek which means, messenger," Sanchez told them.

"What is Greek?" Eleanor asked with a confused look on her face.

"Greek is one of the many languages on our world and it's spoken by the Greeks who live in Greece – it's also the first language he spoke. What happened here it what we call a _Greek Tragedy; _and in fact, this whole place has been has been nothing but a _Greek Tragedy._ That means, the outcome was always fated to happened – long before creation itself," Corrina answered.

xxx

"After we awoke..., and their Father told them we'll surpass them in wisdom and knowledge one day; and they forgot their Father heard their scorn and ridicule of his creation – and we took the brunt of their hated and mockery," Sanchez told them. "Shortly thereafter, the Lord went after his fallen son...and then the devil said something he ought never had said, and that's when heaven shook to its very core with the angry and Wrath of God; and He told the angels: _I am going to shake the nations_. When those loud trumpets blew in heaven, the anger and the Wrath of God came down on the devil's head and He sent Michael after him – and He had a few nasty surprises in store for the angels. Afterwards, a loud voice said in heaven..."

"And one of those nasty surprises was made for the angels long before they were created. Apparently they forgot who they were dealing with and how small they really are, and He reminded them by putting His fist in their faces, and He brought them howling to their knees," Sgt. Williams said with a grin on his face.

A few people laughed, including the Colonel.

"The nasty words the devil spoke to his Father had nothing to do with us, but were directed at Him – and no one says that to the Lord. We know what he said, but even we'll never repeat those words. The devil's hatred for his Father is so great, he thought he could say anything to Him, but he found out otherwise," Sanchez said.

"The rebellious angels turned their nastiness on their Father. They started with us, and then they turned around and did the same thing to Him. Now you know what He meant when He said: _if you do it to the least of my kind, you will do it to me, _and they did it to him," Corrina told them.

xxx

"After the devil was hurled to earth like lighting, His Father told him why He punished him the first time, and then said to him: _Thus, sayeth the Lord God, You were in Eden, the Garden of God, and on the holy mountain of God...until iniquity was found in you and you sinned; and by the multitude of your iniquities and the unrighteousness of your trade you were filled with violence, and so I cast you as a profane thing from the holy mountain of God and to the ground. I exposed you before kings so they could feast their eyes on you; and all who know you among the people are appalled at you. You have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more forever_. There's a lot more to that speech and story, but I only told you why he was sent to us as his punishment, and he's ours until the end, but his Father will only allow him to do so much and has a boot on his neck.

When the Lord sent the angel Raphael to us, he told us... His father also told him to put the angels in Choirs so we could better under the hierarchy of the angels; and we're to never give deference to any angel and they're never to take it from any of us. The word choir means, group of singers, and that's how we identify them. Raphael also told us that the devil was coming after us..., and when he did that, his Father told him He was going to send a woman to crush him with her heal, and He did," Sanchez told them.

"What did the Lord mean when He said He was going to _shake the nations_?" Balin asked.

"The nations are heaven and earth, and He shook heaven with his anger and wrath and by the changes he made afterwards; He shook it again after many angels left Heaven and went to earth to bother us many years later. He shook earth when He sent the devil to us; and He shook it again when He destroyed our world, along with us," Sanchez answered.

The Atani gasped.

"And He _shook the nations_," Corrina said. "The angels didn't know how terrible the Lord could be, until he showed them – and He went nuclear on them. He always knew they were going to be His biggest problem, and they were. We also paid dearly for all their sins."

"The devil is a strange name," Haldor said.

"That's the name his Father gave him after he punished him and that's what everyone calls him now, including his brothers and sisters. That name means, _Adversary of God,_ and he's his Father's adversary and only He can deal with him," Sanchez replied.

"Why was your world destroyed?" Delmar asked wide-eyed.

"We can only tell you that after many angels left heaven and went to earth, they did something, but what, we don't know. By the time we sent our plea to Michael in heaven, earth was in ruin and most of us were dead. Michael told his Father..., and then the Lord sent Raphael to heal our world from the marring, and Raphael proclaimed it to us afterwards. The Lord sent Enoch, a man, to pronounce the angels' dooms to them. When they saw Enoch walk up to them, they shook, and through Enoch their Father spoke to them. That one-sided conversation was all about the doom they had just laid on their brothers and sisters, and He was angry, and denied their request – and they sat down in the desert and wept. Enoch then returned home and pronounced our doom to us.

...and the Lord opened what we call God's cauldron, and Raphael did his Father's Will. Then the Lord personally snatched up the leader of the rebellion with his hand – and we call that the Hand of God. Michael was sent after the rest of them, and when he came down from heaven he had a very long chain in his hands; and then the earth opened and he bound his fallen brothers in the earth until the end. After that the Lord laid a doom on the angels, which is forever, and it's big one. Michael and seven others escaped the doom, but we don't know who the other seven are. Our doom came a hundred years later, but before that, all the written evidence of what the angels did was destroyed in a fire and not one piece of parchment remained. Then our doom was upon us, and the Wrath of God came down on our heads, and He destroyed our world – with us on it – except the ones He chose to live so we could start over again.

Earth not only had to be healed from the marring, but also cleansed; that's why the Lord destroyed our world with water. That hard hand came at us and it was devastating. It was a dead world, and nothing or no one was left alive, and there was no sound of life anywhere on earth, except the weeping of the men, women and children who survived. You never want to see what He can do, and if anyone was alive who knew what the angels did – none lived to tell the tale. He wiped out all the evidence of their great sin and began again, and so did we," Sanchez answered.

"Their hatred for us finally caught up with them," Sgt. Williams said. "Now the angels need a permission slip from their Father to leave heaven and they have go through one of the Powers, who're now in charge of guarding all the access ways to and from Heaven. The Lord made the Powers so resolute they can never fall, and they were created during the devil's rebellion. The Powers and two other angels, who were created after the rebellion – God's Angry and God's Wrath – are now the boot their Father has on all their necks."

"Earth also turned out to be the angels' prison, including the Devil's, and they can never leave it. The ones that fell with the Devil are imprisoned in hell and there's an angel standing guard between them and us, because they're very close to earth." Sanchez told them. "We know what the Lord did to them and He hurt them. They're all in great pain and agony and they wish for death. We also know what's going to happen to them at the end, and it's going to be much worse, and that'll be forever," Sanchez told them.

"We have the names of all the Captains who fell in both of those rebellions and the Choirs they were in, but we can't pronounce their names – though they're written in our language. The name we have for the leader of the second rebellion and the devil had to be translated for us so we could pronounce them, but it's not the same name they had in heaven. Raphael used to have a different name, but his Father changed it because he was going to be dealing with us. The name Raphael means _God's Healer,_ that's why his Father sent him to heal our world from the marring," Corrina said.

"Now you know why we were awaken well over a million years ago and far away from here," Sanchez told them.

xxx

"What are the Seals the Lord made in beginning?" Haldor asked.

"Those Divine Seals have to do with Divine Retribution, Divine Judgment, Divine Warnings and the Wrath of God,, and when those Seals were opened in heaven after men awoke on earth, and all the fallen angels' dooms were at hand. A few of those Seals can apply anywhere and to everyone – just ask the angels. The way the Lord punished the angels is written in Greek mythology. In Greek mythology they're 14 gods – 7 males and 7 females – who're known as the Olympians and they live on Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in the world. One of the Greek gods is Hades, who's name means, _the unseen_, and he's the god of the dead and the underworld. The angels from the second rebellion are now bound in the underworld on earth and we call that Hades – and no one can escape from Hades," Corrina answered.

"There's another place in Greek mythology called Tartarus, which is far below the underworld; and it's a deep dark abyss used for torment and suffering, and that's where the gods were sent, for which they could never escape. Cronus, the worse and most vile of all the Greek gods was thrown into Tartarus; and Hades also sent the truly wicked men and women to Tartarus. The angels that fell with the devil are in hell, which is very similar to Tartarus, but much, much worse. Tartarus is also a deity and the first entity in Greek mythology, from which light and the cosmos was born. When the Lord was making heaven and earth, he also made hell – and He opened hell after the devil said those nasty words," Sgt. Williams told them.

"And their places were found no more in heaven," Sanchez said.

"That's what the Lord saw in the beginning: _The Fall of the Angels_," Corrina replied.

"A _Greek Tragedy_," Elin said nodding her head in understanding.

xxx

Eleanor asked about the Greek gods and Captain Sanchez answered her questions. She also explained how Greek civilization influenced the rest of their world.

"I was thinking about what you said about those Seals, Colonel," Sanchez said. "The Fifth Seal has to do with Divine Retribution. Those souls are asking for God's vengeance for what was done to them; and I found the answer very interesting and realized that's why we're here. We're not only here to avenge our fellow humans, but God's other children who were killed by the _white light_ over the many ages."

"What do you mean?" Haldor asked surprised.

"Vengeance is in God's time and not ours," Corrina answered. "The _white light's_ doom is now at hand because of what it did to men on this world – and God's vengeance will be terrible – and that's going to be done through us."

"Your weapons," Haldor said, nodding his head.

"Yes, and those weapons are far beyond anything you can ever imagine, and they were made long ago by the gods themselves," Corrina answered.

xxx

"Why did the angels hate mortals?" Balin asked.

"We're like oil and water and we don't mix. That means our differences are so great we'll never find any common ground to build upon. The reason the Lord told us not to give deference to any angel is because he knew we never would, and we never have. We also don't think they're better than we are, and their Father had to silence them three times concerning us," Corrina answered. "The word deference means, humble submission, respect, esteem or reverence. We see them only as messengers and nothing else."

"They also think differently than we do and they can't communicate with us. The angel Raphael was the first person we met who wasn't like us, and we were never in awe of him, his abilities or who he is; and we were the first race he met that was different from himself. He had no problem telling us what his Father told him to tell us and answering our questions. He then paused and told us he was having difficulty in trying to convey his thoughts to us because we think differently, and he couldn't translate his thoughts to how we think – until his Father told him how to say what he was thinking so we could understand," Sanchez told them.

"The nasty words the devil spoke is written in our language. When I read it I found it very confusing and didn't understand what he said; and the only thing I understood was when he was talking himself. The translation is written at the bottom, but it took a religious scholar to explain further what he meant. Their speech is very different from ours and they have a hard time explaining themselves to us. Raphael did the same thing. By that I mean he started to tell us one thing, but didn't complete his thought and told us something else; and I realized then that they have no clue what a conjunction is. Conjunctions are a part of speech that connects words, phrases and sentences," Corrina told them.

"They were never taught proper grammar sir, and not one of them knows what a verb, adverb, noun, pronounce, subject, adjective, conjunction or participle is. If you asked them what they are, they wouldn't know what you're talking about," Sgt. Williams said. "That's the reason their Father always has to tell them what to say and how to say it."

"Point taken Sargent," Corrina replied.

"The angels don't sound very nice and I don't like them, and I'm glad I'm not one of them," Eleanor said.

The others agreed with Eleanor.

Colonel Corrina then told them why they brought the wagons.

xxx

Valinor - The Ring of Doom

When the _others_ arrived Ulmo informed the Valar from his waters and they listened, along with their Maiar attendants, to the conversation between the Atani and the _others_, who're mortals like the Atani.

"I thought our brother was the worse Ainu," Tulkas said.

"We just found out he isn't," Aulë replied.

"The devil's rebellion changed everything in the Timeless Halls, and Atar created the Timeless Halls, earth and hell at the same time, and that was before he created any Ainu; and the words the devil spoke were the cause of the fall of the Timeless Halls."

"It seems our brother's discord in the Music was much greater than we thought," Irmo said.

"I agree, and there was a great deal of variance in the Music and we now know the result," Aulë replied.

"I suspect what the devil did had ramifications far beyond what they told the Atani," Irmo said.

"It did, and we only heard the short version of both of those stories. We know the Powers' Choir was created during the rebellion and unlike the rest of us, they can never fall; and neither can the other two Ainur – Atar's Angry and Atar's Wrath. Atar was never going to have a repeat of that again," Ulmo replied. "We also heard that the first language Atar spoke was Greek and the reasons why, and the word the humans from earth call us also comes from the Greek language."

"They'll have the devil until the end," Tulkas said.

"It's his doom," Námo replied.

"The devil's actions also brought the Wrath of Atar down on all of the Ainur in the Timeless Halls, and many cried out in pain and bleed, the same way Atar's other children do," Oromë said.

"It was one of the nasty surprises Atar had in store for the Ainur. We didn't understand what Atar meant when He told us death is a gift; but the Ainur who rebelled now understand what that means, and they wish for death to end their torment," Aulë replied.

None of the Ainur could image what that could be.

"We thought the Ainur loved men," Vairë said.

"Atar knew many would not. Some tried to kill them shortly after they awoke; and we'll never know how Atar felt when some of our brothers and sisters ridiculed his creation, and then turned and did the same to Him. We'll also never know what our fallen brothers did on earth, and Atar made sure men will never find out; and what they did is far worse than anything our brother has done on Arda," Ulmo replied.

"They never mentioned the Music," Olórin said.

"Our brother Raphael didn't tell them about the music," Nienna replied. "The _Books of Genesis_ is their written history of the creation of the Timeless Halls, their world, the Ainur and themselves. They came in the third _Book of Genesis_, which corresponds with the Third Theme of the Music. We could never explain the Music to the Atani, or the other humans unless Atar told us how, because of the way thy think and understand things, which is beyond our understanding and Atar knows that. That's why He had to tell our brother how to interpret his thoughts so they could understand what he was trying to tell them – and we just learned that the way we speak is very confusing to them."

"They're speaking Quenya," Nessa said.

"That's not the Quenya the elves speak, but we understood most of what they were saying, but not all of it. The Atani don't speak Quenya, yet they understood what the other mortals were telling them. We and the Atani were hearing different languages, and I suspect that has something to do with one of their strange things," Aulë replied.

"I concur," Ulmo said.

xxx

"The men from earth think we hate them," Eönwë said.

"The Ainur were the cause of their world being destroyed, along with themselves; Atar had to silence the Ainur in the Timeless Halls concerning them on more than one occasion, and those rebellious Ainur were the cause of a great doom to be laid on us. Our doom is forever Eönwë, whereas their doom was only temporary, albeit very devastating for them, as we heard. The Ainur's hatred for men and the Doom of the Ainur were sung into the Great Music, and Atar knew that. Atar also knew the Ainur sung in the discord between men and the Ainur, which will last until the end; and also the strife between the Ainur and some of the Eldar, which will never be repaired. None of us knew the full implications of the Great Music until today, and men were the first ones Atar told because it concerned them. Men on earth got all the fallen Ainur from those rebellions in the Timeless Halls; and they told the Atani that everything Atar did in the beginning was aimed at the devil and not our brother on Arda. Atar had already made their prisons in the beginning, and that's one of the reasons those access ways are open. We can never again think of the Timeless Halls without thinking about earth, because they're joined together. The Eldar got all our love and men got all our hate – which is indeed a _Greek Tragedy_," Nienna replied.

"Even the Atani don't like us after hearing what the Ainur did to their fellow humans on earth Eönwë," Ulmo told him.

xxx

"The humans from earth found the Atani who were taken by the _white light_," Yavanna said.

"They also found them in a another part of Eä," Vairë replied.

"How did the Atani go beyond the circles of the world?" Vairë's Maia Attendant asked.

"The same way the other humans do, and the Atani leaving Arda will do so in the same manner," Námo answered, but didn't know how that was done.

"We learned that the _white light_ is very old and difficult to kill and that the humans from earth are counted among the great races. They've risen to great heights – far beyond the Eldar – and it's one of the Ancients who's protecting the Atani and she can see what we can't, but we don't know how," Aulë said.

"She wasn't suppose to interfere," Vána said.

"Yet, she did, because of her great love for humans," Nienna replied.

"We came to make a home for the children," Olórin said.

"The majority of the Atani are dead Olórin, and the remaining few are leaving Arda for their own safety. There'll be no shadow, Ainur or elves where they're going; and they and their children will never have to worry about our brother or the _white light_ ever again," Ulmo replied.

"The Atani are not bound to Arda and they can leave any time they wish," Námo told them.

"The _white light_ wasn't in the Music," Estë said.

"The Vision Atar showed us didn't reveal everything – and the _white light_ concerns men and Atar's other children," Nienna replied.

"I wonder who are the gods are and how such powerful and terrible weapons came into the hands of men?" Aulë asked.

"It was Atar's Will," Ulmo answered.

xxx

Two Weeks Later

When Elin and Balin's folk arrived their mouths dropped when they saw the stargate, as the Colonel told them it was called; and he told them other things while they were in route to their destination.

Delmar, Eleanor and many of the other children stared at the stargate and wondered how it worked, and Eleanor smiled when she saw the look on Delmar's face. "It's so big," Delmar said wide-eyed and noticed the soldiers smiling at them.

"Some of the soldiers are women," a young boy said when he walked up to Delmar and Eleanor.

"Yes they are," Eleanor said looking at him with a hard glare and smiled when he turned and run away. When Eleanor turned around she saw the female soldiers smiling at her and one winked at her. Eleanor returned the smile and knew then she wanted to be a soldier when she grew up.

The next morning Elin and Balin were escorted to their new home, and after they returned they reported their findings to their people.

"The woman in your dream was right Elin," Balin said to her during dinner that evening under the stars on Gaia.

"She was watching over us and I'll like to meet her one day and thank her," Elin replied smiling.

"Maybe one day you will Elin," Balin said also smiling.

Elin looked around and knew she was safe, and her heart lifted.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

Somewhere Over Arda - Five Days Later

When the orcs on the ground in the Northwest disappeared in a white light, they looked around and didn't know where they were or how they got there, and when they saw tall menacing things surrounding and looking at them, they cowed.

After all the men in the surrounding mountains disappeared in a white light, an invisible energy field was erected around said mountains and also that entire area, so no one could enter or leave.

"Hello gentlemen," the Major said when the Easterlings were transported to their temporary home in an empty cargo bay aboard the same vessel as the orcs.

The Easterlings looked around with stunned looks on their faces and wondered how they got there. They saw men with strange things in their hands and those things were pointed at them. They also saw tall things looking at him and thought they were worse than trolls. They looked for their weapons and didn't find any.

"Who are you?" one Easterling asked with a defiant look on his face to the man who was standing near them. "Do you know what our Master is going to do to you when he finds out what you've done to us?"

"To answer your first question – we're your worse nightmare," the man answered "Even if your Master did know where you are, he can't do anything about it and you're now out of his reach."

"You're not afraid of our Master?" a second Easterling asked surprised.

"No, and he's a coward and always has been," the man answered.

"Brave words," a third Easterling said.

The Major smiled.

"You're mortals like we are," the first Easterling said.

"Yes we are," the man replied.

"Who do you work for?" another Easterling asked.

The Major ignored the question. "This cargo bay is now your home until the duration," he told them and walked out of the cargo bay.

"When you get tired of standing you can sit on the deck," the Sargent told them.

A few Easterlings did just that, and a few minutes later the others did the same and talked quietly among themselves.

xxx

Cirith Ninniach

Lieutenant Colonel Henry Daniels and his men and women were transported inside the tunnel below Cirith Ninniach and immediately set-up a Command Post and brought everything they needed, including water. Two days later Colonel Daniels gave his teams the green light.

xxx

Hithlum

"Belgar," Dambar said when he stopped eating and noticed blood dripping from his friend's forehead.

When Dambar and the others picked up Belgar after he fell over, they saw the back of his head was missing and blood was everywhere and they dropped his body to the ground and looked around. Dambar's head exploded when he turned around and the other two were shot through the heart, and four Easterlings souls were sent to Mandos.

xxx

While a middle-aged Edain woman was walking to a nearby well, she was accosted from behind and dragged into a nearby cave. She looked at the strangers, who were dressed in all black with their faces covered and carrying things she'd never seen before, except their daggers. "Who are you?" she asked in a frightened voice looking from one to the other.

"Soldiers," a female answered when she took off her mask. "We will not harm you and we're here to help you." "Can you tell us about these men and their families?" she asked, showing her a picture of each family.

The female Edain had never seen parchment like that before and knew the men and their families were Easterlings. "Why?" she asked the female soldier suspiciously.

"We're going to kill them," she answered with a wicked grin.

The female Edain smiled and gave them the information they requested.

The Easterlings and their families never saw or heard the men and women who entered their homes a few nights later and quietly slit their throats.

xxx

When eight soldiers walked into a tavern in Hithlum everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and looked at the strangers when they entered, and knew they weren't from Hithlum by the way they were dressed and the boots they wore. Their hair was also short, along with the female's hair who were with the men; and the men in the tavern knew respectful women did not accompany men in Hithlum at that hour. They noticed the females also wore pants and that the strangers were shorter than they were, but more powerfully built. Their bearing was also different and none of them had a bow or sword and only wore daggers around their waist. None of them wore a cloak, but something similar, yet different (long coats).

The strangers heard whispers among the patrons, and most turned away when they saw their eyes and the looks on their faces. The kind of looks the Easterlings knew that if they crossed them, they would have their throats cuts. While the strangers were having their drinks a brave soul in the tavern walked up to them and asked where they were from. One of the soldiers said Timbuktu and the others with him laughed at the expression on the man's face because they knew he'd never heard of the place. The Easterling didn't like being the butt of their joke and drew his dagger, but before he could bring it up, a male soldier stood up, grabbed his hand and broke it. He was still screaming when the solider pushed him down on his knees and crushed his windpipe, and the others watched as his dead body fell on the dirty and grimy floor.

There was stunned silence in the tavern and the soldiers then stood up and drew their concealed weapons from inside their coats, and they saw no one moved. Four more soldiers entered the tavern also with their guns drawn – and everyone complied when they were told to lay down on the floor. No one heard the gun shots, nor did anyone see the strangers being transported away before the tavern burned to the ground.

The remaining Easterlings and their families in Hithlum were transported to another vessel, and they too were greeted by a Major.

The Easterling leaders and their families in Dor-Lómin and Mithrim suffered the same fate; and the remaining Easterlings were transported to a different cargo vessel and were greeted by a female Major

When the stargate was transported near the Gate of the Noldor in Hithlum, along with Colonel Corrina and Major Howard and their Teams a few days later, they departed to get the remaining Edain in the Northwest.

When the Edain were told what happened to their enemies they rejoiced and welcomed their Saviors. Six weeks later Moran, Harad and Boromir lead their people through the stargate."

If Morgoth knew all his human servants were either dead or no longer on Arda, he gave no indication.

xxx

Somewhere in South Arda - Command Post of Colonel Salar

Colonel Salar smiled when she read Colonel Daniels' report and sent a copy to Major General Thos, the Commander of Operation Retribution and Commander of the Fleet above Arda. After General Thos read the report he forwarded it to General Dima on Atlantis.

General Dima contacted General Thos the next day with his new orders, and General Thos met with the Commanders of the cargo vessels an hour later. When the Commanders returned to their ships their wormhole drives were engaged and they departed. When they arrived at Atlantis they jumped into hyperspace; and when they arrived at their destination the orcs were transported into space.

xxx

"Welcome to your new home," the Major said when he walked into the foul smelling cargo bay. He knew his prisoners had been adequately fed and used the facilities, but none had a bath, shower or a change of clothing.

"Where are we?" a Easterling asked.

"Show them where they are Lieutenant," the Major said.

"Yes sir," he replied.

There was gasps and screams when the screen opened and they saw they were among the stars. The Easterlings now knew what the man meant when he said they were out of their Master's reach.

"All the Easterlings on Arda are either dead or on one of these ships," the Major told them.

"Why have you done this to us?" one of the leaders asked in an angry tone.

"It's called retribution for what you and your ancestors did to the Edain on your Master's orders," the Major answered. "You didn't think you were going to get away with that, did you?"

There was silence in the cargo bay.

"How are we going to get there?" someone asked still stunned at being among the stars.

"You're going to be transported to the surface of the planet below," the Major answered.

Murmurs among the Easterlings.

"Lieutenant," the Major said.

"Yes sir," he replied and began transporting the Easterlings to the surface.

The ones who were transported first watched as others were transported nearby and many more further away and they had their families with them. They looked around and saw greenery in a distance and began walking in that direction looking for food and water.

"How is this a punishment for them sir?" the Lieutenant asked after the Easterlings on all the ships were transported to the planet.

"This world is at an end of an ice age and the smart ones will keep walking south," the Major answered.

"And we'll be watching them the whole time," the Lieutenant said, finally understanding.

"Yes we will," the Major replied.

The Easterlings didn't know that their descendants will one day become members of the AGF and they'll finally rejoin the family of man after they discover the stargate; and all memory of Arda and what their ancestors did on Arda will be long forgotten.

The President, General Brennan and the Joint Chiefs thought it prudent to separate the Easterlings and the Edain; and have the Edain live in the Pegasus galaxy and the Easterlings live in the Milky Way galaxy.

xxx

One Weeks Later

Eönwë lead the Host of the Valar to Alqualondë, and when they arrived they boarded their ships. Eönwë knew a gentle wind will carry the gleaming white hallowed swan ships across the sea to the outer lands.

"You've been quiet since we left," Olórin said when he walked up to Eönwë who was staring out at sea on the deck of their ship.

"I've been thinking about the Atani and the other humans," he replied.

"Oh," Olórin said with a raised eyebrow.

"The Atani have left Arda, the home we made for them," Eönwë replied.

"We made Arda for the Eldar, and the Atani and most of the Eldar live in Aman and the Atani live somewhere else," Olórin told him.

"They're never return," Eönwë turned and said to his friend.

"No they won't," Olórin replied hearing the sadness in his brothers voice. "Once all the Eldar return to Valinor, there'll be no one left on Arda. This wasn't our brother's doing Eönwë, but something else."

"No one foresaw any of this," Eönwë said.

"But Atar did and knew the other humans would come and save their own," Olórin replied.

"They're very different from the Atani," Eönwë said.

"They're the same people Eönwë," Olórin replied. "They were once like the Atani, but as the ages passed they learned and grew and the Atani will do the same, as all children do."

"I was sadden to hear the other humans don't love the Ainur," Eönwë said.

"We all were, but we understand the reasons why and the only Ainu they love is Michael, and he loves them very much."

"We also love them," Eönwë said.

"Not the way Michael does and Atar and knows that – that's why he put him in charge of them," Olórin replied, and knew his brother was deeply hurt by what he just said. He also knew the Valar and the other Maiar were also deeply hurt and sadden when they found out that many Ainur in the Timeless Halls did not love humans, but in fact hated them.

xxx

Somewhere in South Arda – Colonel Salar's Command Post

"The others from across the sea have boarded their ships and are on their way," Salar said to Corrina and Daniels during dinner that evening.

"I see they don't understand subtlety," Daniels said.

"No they don't," Corrina said after taking a sip of his Galaran Brandy. "The enemy can see them coming a mile away."

"Their enemy can't see anything because he's hiding in his bunker," Daniels replied. "That dumb son-of-a-bitch didn't even know we were there, or that we took all his human servants and some of his orcs."

"He probably didn't care, Salar said.

"I wonder why they lost?" Corrina asked with a raised eyebrow. "He doesn't have a very good army."

"Not by our standards he doesn't," Salar answered, and she and Daniels answered his question.

"What about the ones that are coming?" Corrina asked.

"They've been training for a few years and they're going to have angels backing them up," Salar answered. "But they're going to have big problems in the North."

"I know," Daniels said laughing.

Corrina also laughed and agreed with Daniels.

"When will you be leaving," Daniels turned and asked Corrina.

"In two days," he answered.

xxx

Isle of Balar

"Why have the Edain left the Isle?" Gil-galad asked Círdan during lunch with Celeborn and Galadriel. He saw the ship depart for Arvernien with the Edain aboard.

"They leaving Arda," Círdan answered. "Durin told me there's no hope for men on Arda and the Valar never cared for them. He also told me the woman in his dreams told him they'll never be safe on Arda and that the _others_ will come to take them to their new home."

"Who are the _others_?" Celeborn asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I asked the same question and he told me the woman in his dreams told him he'll recognize the _others_ when he sees them," Círdan answered.

"Does Durin know who the woman in his dream is?" Galadriel asked.

"No," Círdan answered.

"Could it be one of the Valar?" Gil-galad asked.

"No," Galadriel answered.

"Who is she?" Celeborn asked.

"He doesn't know, but from what he told me she seems to know a great deal," Círdan answered.

Galadriel was intrigued and wanted to know who the woman is and how she knows what she knows.

xxx

"How many Atani have left the Isle?" Ulmo asked Círdan.

"All of them," he answered.

"Did any of them mention the _white light_?" Ulmo asked.

"No, Lord Ulmo," Círdan answered, still wondering what the _white light_ is and why it's important.

xxx

Arvernien - South Beleriand

When the ship arrived the Atani from Isle of Balar set up an encampment to wait for the _others_.

Anwen told her brother that the woman in her dream told her the _others_ will arrive soon to take them to their new home.

A few days later the Atani saw many strangers ride into Arvernien with strange things strapped across their backs, and thought their clothes were strange. They also saw many wagons behind the riders and wondered where they came from.

The men and women on horseback looked around at the squalor the humans were living and it broke their hearts, and they knew a refugee camp when they saw one.

Anwen ran up to them and her instincts told her they were the _others_. "I'm Anwen," she said smiling up at the brown hair and brown eyed man sitting on his horse.

"I'm Lieutenant Colonel Michael Corrina," he replied returning the smile looking down at her.

"You're the _others_ we've been waiting for and you're mortals like we are," Anwen stated matter-of-factly.

"Yes we are," he answered.

"When do we leave?" she asked.

"Whenever you're ready," he answered.

"I'm ready," she said smiling up at him.

"Good," he replied.

"Now we understand what the woman in our dream meant we she told me I'll recognize the _others_," Durin said to those around him. "They're mortals like we are."

Murmurs among the Atani.

"What are the wagons for?" Durin asked after he walked up and introduced himself to the Colonel.

"They're for the ones who don't have horses and the other wagons have food, water and blankets, and we're going to provide everything you need on your journey," Corrina answered.

"Thank you," a toothless old woman said smiling.

"You're welcome ma'am," Corrina replied returning the smile. "We'll leave tomorrow morning."

The Atani smiled and went to their shacks to collect their few belongings; and the women and girls helped a few of the soldiers prepare their meal, and they ate under the setting sun. Many had seconds and a few had a third meal.

During dinner the Colonel ate and spoke with the elders.

xxx

"What's this Anwen?" Corrina asked the next morning, looking at the parchments on her lap.

"My drawings," she answered.

"Drawings of what?" he asked.

"Different things," she answered sitting in one of the wagons with her brother and others. "This is a building; this is a well; this is a waterway, and this drawing is my new house."

Corrina looked at her drawings and knew instantly Anwen is an engineering genius and also a builder and studied her other drawings very carefully.

Before some of the Edain departed they said good-bye to some of the elves. Then the Colonel gave the order to move out.

"We're never see them again," one ellon said in a sad voice, standing next to his friend. Remembering that the elves and Edain fought side-by-side for many years.

"I know," his friend replied.

The elves in Arvernien knew the Atani were leaving Arda, but didn't know how, until the Edain told them they were leaving through a strange thing.

xxx

Colonel Salar's Command Post

"The Armada from across the sea should be arriving soon," Sam, the avatar for the Command Post said when he walked into the Command tent.

"Thank you Sam," Salar replied. "When will Colonel Corrina arrive?"

He told her.

"Dismissed," Salar said and sent her and Colonel Corrina's report to General Thos.

xxx

The Falas – One Week Later

Before the Host of the Valar arrived on Arda, Eönwë's trumpet filled the sky issuing a challenge to Melkor. When they finally arrived in the outer lands Eönwë realized many of the docks were in disrepair and the Host had to dock their ships one at a time at the only few docks that were serviceable. He then sent Prince Ingwion and his company to secure Eglarest; and they killed all the remaining orcs in that area.

"I thought this place would be under the shadow, but it's very beautiful," one of Eönwë's Vanyar guards said to his companion, as they rode behind their Commander.

"So did I," his companion replied looking around.

Olórin was sent to scout out the area were Eönwë wanted to set up his encampment and did so unclad.

xxx

Eglarest

Eönwë and his Maiar Captains, along with King Finarfin and Prince Ingwion entered a room which had a long table and chairs. Eönwë sat at the head of the table and his Vanyar guards surrounded the building. Some of Eönwë's Maiar Captains were sent by Lord's Oromë, Tulkas and Lady Nienna.

"Lord Olórin has something to tell us," Eönwë told them.

"Lord Eönwë sent me to scout the area where he wants to set up his encampment. When I arrived I found a large tent city with many mortals and other children of Eru Ilúvatar. I also saw something none of us have seen before and it's well guarded. Those children are soldiers and part of a vast army and their Commander is a female, and we can't make them leave," Olórin told them, and saw King Finarfin and Prince Ingwion both raised an elegant eyebrow. "I saw the look in her eyes King Finarfin and Prince Ingwion, and those eyes didn't miss anything and they're hard and cold, unlike yours. Her demeanor also bespoke Leader and she had many guards surrounding her and everyone stood when she entered the tent and took her seat at the head of the table. They're also other female soldiers there who're part of the same army and their eyes were the same as hers, and they have the same hardness as their male counterparts."

"How did females became that way?" King Finarfin asked in a sad voice.

"They're soldiers and they've fought many battles, and their laws and customs are very different from the Eldar's," Olórin answered.

"Their Supreme Commander is also a female," Eönwë told them.

"How did she become their Supreme Commander?" Prince Ingwion asked surprised.

"She earned it, but we don't know how," Eönwë answered.

"What about their Kings and Queens?" King Finarfin asked.

Eönwë explained their System of Government.

"The people rule?" Prince Ingwion asked wide-eyed.

"Yes they do, and always have," Eönwë answered.

"They are very different from the Eldar," King Finarfin said, with a nod of his head.

xxx

"What are guns Lord Olórin?" Prince Ingwion asked.

"Weapons of war," he answered, and told the elves why they no longer use swords.

"We thought the Eldar and Atani were the only children of Eru Ilúvatar," King Finarfin said.

"The Valar found out recently that Eru Ilúvatar has many other children," Eönwë replied.

"What do the other children look like?" Prince Ingwion asked.

"You're find out when you see them," Olórin answered. "But a few of Eru Ilúvatar's other children look and sound like the Eldar."

"They do?" the King and Prince asked.

"Yes, but they have short hair, including the females," Olórin answered.

The King and Prince were taken aback.

"Why are Eru Ilúvatar's other children on Arda and how did they get here?" King Finarfin asked.

"The Valar don't know how they arrived and found out recently that most of the Atani were killed over 100 sun years ago and recently. The other children of Eru Ilúvatar are here to take the remaining Atani to their new home," Eönwë answered.

"All the Atani are dead?" Prince Ingwion asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The majority of them are, and only a few remain on Arda," Eönwë answered.

"How were they killed Lord Eönwë?" King Finarfin asked still stunned, but didn't show it.

"By the _white light,_ and the Valar don't know what the _white light_ is, but they do," Eönwë answered.

"Where any elves killed by the _white light_ Lord Eönwë?" Prince Ingwion asked.

"No," he answered, and saw the look of relief on their faces. Eönwë told the King and Prince about the other mortals and they were surprised to learn that Eru Ilúvatar awoke mortals somewhere else long before He awoke the Eldar on Arda. When they asked why, Eönwë told them it concerned their Melkor, whom they call the devil, and everyone at the table saw the King and Prince nod their heads in understanding.

xxx

Atlantis

Colonel Robert Santana is 43 years old and graduated from the War College on Lantis 22 years ago. He commanded a battalion size unit (300-1200 soldiers) on another world in the Pegasus galaxy as a Lieutenant Colonel. When he returned to Lantis after the war, he went back to the War College for postgraduate professional military education. After he completed his studies he was reassigned to Army Operations on Lantis – and three years later he was promoted to Colonel.

Colonel Santana never married, but has a son – whom he hasn't seen in years. A few months after he returned from the war, he went to his lover's apartment and was told she'd moved out months ago. When he returned home, he put the engagement ring away and wept. While on leave he tried to find her, but had no success; and realized he'd never met any of her family who could help him find her and his son. As the years went by, the searing pain turned into a dull ache.

When Robert Santana awoke the morning he was to report to General Dima's office, he thought about his former lover and son. The Colonel knew the General had looked over his record, but for the life of him he couldn't fathom why General Dima wanted to see him; but he knew he'll find out when he meets the General.

xxx

General Dima's Office

"At ease Colonel, and have a seat," Dima said when he was shown into his office.

"Thank you sir," he replied and sat next to a General he didn't know.

"This is General Boro, the Chief of Military Intelligence in the Pegasus galaxy," Dima said to Santana.

"Sir," Santana said looking at the Three Star General.

"Colonel," Boro replied studying the Colonel.

"This meeting and everything we're about to tell you is highly classified," Dima told Santana.

"I understand sir," Santana said.

"...and General Brennan will arrive in Atlantis in a few days aboard _Thor's Hammer_," Dima told Boro and Santana.

"Is she going to greet their Commander?" Boro asked.

"Yes, because he's her counterpart, and we're also going with her," Dima answered. "Dismissed."

General Boro and Colonel Santana left General Dima's office.

Colonel Santana was still reeling and thought the two General's were crazy, until he saw a few of the recordings and after they explained everything to him; and knows why he's going with them.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

Lantis - Five Days Later

Colonel Robert Santana is 41 years old and a graduate of the War College on Lantis. He commanded a battalion (300-1200 soldiers) on another planet in the Pegasus galaxy as a Lieutenant Colonel; and when he returned to Lantis after the war, he went back to the War College for postgraduate professional military education. After he completed his studies he was reassigned to Army Operations on Lantis.

A month after he returned, and after his debriefings, he went to his lover's apartment and was told she'd moved out months ago. While on leave he tried to find her, but to no avail, and realized he'd never met her family who could've helped him. As the years went by, his searing pain turned into a dull ache.

When Robert Santana awoke the morning he was to report to General Dima's office, he still couldn't fathom why the General wanted to see him, but knew he'll find out that morning.

xxx

General Dima's Office

"At ease Colonel, and have a seat," Dima said when Santana was shown into his office.

"Thank you sir," he replied and sat in the empty chair next to another General.

"This is General Boro, the Chief of Military Intelligence in the Pegasus galaxy," Dima said to Santana.

"Sir," Santana said looking at the Three Star General.

"Colonel," Boro replied studying the Colonel.

"This meeting and everything we're about to tell you is classified," Dima told Santana.

"I understand sir," Santana said.

"...and General Brennan will arrive in Atlantis in a few days aboard _Thor's Hammer_," Dima told Boro and Santana.

"Is she going to greet their Commander?" Boro asked.

"Yes, because he's her counterpart, and we're also going with her," Dima answered. "Dismissed Colonel."

"Yes sir," he said and saluted the Generals before he departed Dima's office.

The Generals talked about other matters.

Colonel Santana was still reeling and thought the General's were crazy, until he saw a few of the recordings and after they explained everything to him – and now knows why he's going with them.

xxx

Eglarest

Eönwë and part of the Host of the Valar rode east to meet the other children of Eru Ilúvatar. He informed the Vanyar about the other mortals and Eru Ilúvatar's other children and told them why they were on Arda. His Captains were given their orders to begin war with Morgoth in the North after their ships arrived and everyone disembarked. King Finarfin and Prince Ingwion rode with the Herald of Manwë.

With Eönwë's keen hearing, he heard the elves asking questions about Eru Ilúvatar's other children, whom they never knew existed. They, like the King and Prince, were also surprised to learn that Eru Ilúvatar had awaken mortals in a different part of Eä long before He awoke the Eldar on Arda.

xxx

Earth - Two Days Later - Onboard _Thor's Hammer_

General Sloan Reynolds greeted General's Brennan and Jaro when they arrived onboard the Flagship and escorted them to their quarters. General Brennan then gave General Reynolds the order to depart for Atlantis.

"The Fleet is ready and awaiting your order General," her pilot turned and said after hearing a beep.

"Open a hyperspace window and jump," she ordered.

"Yes ma'am," she replied and opened a hyperspace window and _Thor's Hammer_ leaped into the anomaly, and the rest of the Fleet opened their own window and jumped into hyperspace.

xxx

Pegasus Galaxy – Atlantis – One Hour Later

"The Flagship Fleet has just dropped out of hyperspace General," the Corporal turned and said to Dima.

"Ten hut," Dima said when General Brennan transported to Atlantis with her security detail, and everyone stood and saluted the Supreme Commander.

"I want to see you and General Boro in your office," Brennan said when she looked at General Dima.

"Yes ma'am," he replied.

xxx

General Dima's Office

Present: General's Brennan, Dima, Jaro and Boro

"What's the status of the Army heading towards Colonel Salar's Command Post?" Brennan asked.

General Dima told her.

"And the status of the refugees?" she asked.

"They should arrived tomorrow," Dima answered.

"I've read the report on Anwen and I think she's truly exceptional and I want to meet her when she arrives," Brennan told them.

"Anwen has no education General," Jaro said.

"We're going to give her an education and make her a better than she already is, if that's possible," Brennan replied smiling.

Anwen and her brother have no guardian," Dima said.

"That's where Colonel Corrina can help us," Brennan replied. "We have another problem gentlemen, and his name is Galdor. We've all read Colonel Corrina's report on Mr. Galdor and saw the recordings. That tells me he's been doing this a long time, and we're going to have to deal with him."

The Generals agreed and they discussed their opinions. Afterwards, General Dima contacted General Thos and told him when they'll arrive on Arda.

xxx

Colonel Salar's Tent

Colonel Salar thanked Sam when he handed her a tablet while she was walking to her tent after having dinner with her staff. When she arrived, she sat on her cot and read the tablet. "I'll be damned," she said aloud. She'd just read that Colonel Robert Santana, her former lover and the father of her two children, will be accompanying the Generals to Arda and the reasons why. She'd not seen or heard from Bobby in years; nor did she receive any communication from him after he went to war. She knew Bobby didn't know, nor did she, that she was pregnant with his children when he left. Colonel Salar felt numb, but eventually cried herself to sleep after thinking about the years they spent together.

xxx

"We'll arrive tomorrow," Corrina told the Edain during dinner that evening and saw the look of relief on their faces and he knew they were exhausted.

When the sun rose the next morning, everyone headed out on the final leg of their journey and Colonel Corrina and his Company were glad this was their last mission.

xxx

Atlantis

General's Brennan, Jaro, Dima, Boro and Colonel Santana were transported aboard _Thor's Hammer_ a few hours later. When they arrived, General Brennan gave the order to depart; and the Flagship Fleet cloaked and engaged their wormhole drives.

xxx

Arda

The General's security details were transported first and de-cloaked at the assigned coordinates in the tent city. Then the Generals and Colonel Santana did the same after they received the all clear.

"Ten hut," General Thos said when the Generals appeared and he, Colonel's Salar, Daniels and Shaw saluted the Generals.

Colonel Santana's head snapped when he saw Milan Salar, who kept her eyes straight. To say he was surprised was an understatement; and he saw she's also a full bird, like himself. The last time he saw her she was a Major, and wondered how she rose through the ranks so quickly.

"At ease," Brennan said. "Report General Thos."

"The other Army is a few days ride away General, and Colonel Corrina and the others should arrive before lunch," he answered.

"I want to see you Colonel Corrina in the Command Tent when he arrives," Brennan said when she walked up to Colonel Salar.

"Yes ma'am," she replied. "Your quarters are ready."

"It's nothing like being back in the field again," Brennan said laughing.

"Right this way ma'am and sirs," Colonel Shaw said.

When Colonel Santana looked back he saw Milan Salar walking in the other direction surrounded by guards.

xxx

When the stargate came to life an hour later, Colonel Oliver walked through with Major's Avaro (Aldan Male) and Patricia Jones (Human Female), and his security detail. The two Majors saluted Salar.

"Welcome to Arda, Colonel Oliver," Salar said after telling the Majors _at ease_. "How's everything on Gaia?"

"Busy," he answered laughing.

They turned when they heard riders in the distance.

"Here they come," she said to Oliver.

"The last remaining humans on Arda," he replied. "It's a lot of them."

"That's why it took them so long to get here," Salar said.

Everyone in the encampment saw Colonel Corrina leading the remaining Atani, who were awed of everything around them, including the stargate and they asked many questions at once. Some rode horses; many were in wagons, and a few were walking.

"Welcome back Colonel," Salar said when he rode up to the two Colonel's and got off his horse.

Colonel Corrina saluted the two Colonels. "Thanks," he replied.

"General Brennan wants to see you in the Command Tent," she told him. "Colonel Shaw will get everyone settled in. Follow me."

xxx

Colonel Corrina stood at attention when the Generals walked into the Command Tent.

"At ease Colonel," Brennan said after the Generals took their seats.

Colonel Corrina sat back down in his chair.

"How was trip Colonel?" she asked Corrina.

"Long and tiring ma'am," he answered with a weary smile.

"Tell us about Mr. Galdor," Brennan said.

"What would you like to know ma'am," Corrina asked.

"Everything you observed and what others told you about him," she answered.

"I notice Anwen turned away from him with a scared look on her face and I discreetly asked her about Mr. Galdor. She told me after her mother died she and her brother Adair went to live with Estella and Galdor...and Estella and Galdor are brother and sister. Anwen told me a few years later, Galdor started giving her strange looks that made her uncomfortable. That's when she decided to leave their home with Adair; and they moved into a shack and she's been taking care of him since that day. Anwen is 16 and her brother is 12 and she also told me she wants to leave Arda and live somewhere nice; in fact, all of them want to leave Arda. Mr. Galdor only ogled the young girls that only has a mother as a single parent, but ignored the young girls that have both parents. We kept an eye on him the whole time, but we couldn't stop him from looking at the girls," Corrina told them.

"Mr. Galdor is not stupid and knows the other young girl's fathers will kill him," Dima said.

"You're right sir," Corrina replied.

"This is what we've decided to do with Mr. Galdor..., and I want to talk to Estella.

"Yes ma'am," Corrina said, and was then dismissed.

xxx

Officer's Mess

"May I join you Colonel?" Santana asked with a food tray in his hand.

"Yes you may Colonel," Salar answered, putting her tablet on the table next to her tray. She looked at the tall, medium built man who's black hair was turning grey, the same as hers.

"When I returned I went to your apartment and I found out you had moved," he told her.

"I never heard from you and I had to move," she answered.

"I was very busy and it took longer than any of us expected," he said.

"Wars are a messy business and they're unpredictable," she replied.

"Every time I started to write, something always came up," he told her.

Milan nodded her head and knew it was fate.

"Why did you have to move?" he asked.

"I was pregnant with your children," she answered.

Robert Santana put his fork down and looked at her. "I'm a father?" he whispered, still stunned at the news.

"Yes, but I didn't know that when you left, and that was your parting gift to me," she answered. "You have a son and daughter."

"Twins," he said.

"Yes," she replied.

"What are their names?" he asked.

"Your son's name is Michael Santana Salar and your daughter's name is Dana Christina Salar," she answered.

"Salar is their last name?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"We aren't married Bobby, and I didn't know if you wanted them to have your last name, or if you were ever going to return home," she said.

He nodded his head.

"It's time for me to talk to my children," Salar said after they finished eating.

"May I come with you?" he asked quietly, with a pleading look in his eyes.

"Yes," she answered.

xxx

The Colonel followed her to her tent and they arrived Santana saw a photo of her two children on the stand next to her cot, and almost gasped when he saw their son Michael looked just like him, and he thought his daughter is just as beautiful as her mother. He put the photo down when he heard his sons voice and walked over to the desk where the Milan was sitting.

"When are you coming home mommy?" Dana asked. "You've been gone a long time."

"I know sweetie, I should be home soon," she answered.

"Who's that mommy?" Michael asked looking at the strange man.

"This is Colonel Robert Santana," she answered.

"Hello sir," they both said.

"Hello," he replied smiling at the two of them.

"Are you a friend of mommy's?" Michael asked.

"Yes I am," he answered smiling at his son, and listened to the rest of their conversation. He studied his children's mannerisms carefully and noticed they both had their mother's beautiful brown eyes.

"I love you," Milan said to her children.

"We love you too mommy," they replied smiling and waving before the link was disconnected.

"Do you speak to them everyday?" he asked.

"Of course," she answered. "We have a lot to talk about."

"I know, but not here," he said.

She agreed.

xxx

"Which one is Anwen? Brennan asked Corrina after lunch. She saw many children playing, which brought a smile to her face.

"The one sitting off by herself and drawing on the parchment in front of her," Corrina answered.

Everyone followed General Brennan when she walked over to Anwen.

"May we join you Anwen?" Corrina asked.

"Of course Colonel," she answered smiling.

"This is General Brennan, our Supreme Commander and the Commander over everyone in the AGF Armed Forces," Corrina told her.

"You're in charge of everyone?" Anwen asked wide-eyed with her mouth hanging open.

"Yes I am," she answered smiling at the young girl and sat next to her.

"This is General Dima, General Jaro and General Boro," Corrina told Anwen pointing to each man. "This is Colonel Oliver and Major's Avaro and Jones."

Anwen studied each one.

"May we see your drawings Anwen?" Brennan asked.

"Yes," Anwen answered with a smile and handed her parchments to General Brennan.

"These are magnificent," Brennan said after looking at each one and then passed them to the others.

"Thank you," Anwen replied.

"How did you come up with this Anwen?" Major Avaro asked showing her the parchment of her water system.

"It was in my head and I drew it," she answered and saw everyone smile at her.

"Tell us how it works," Colonel Oliver said.

Anwen explained her water system and other drawings and answered all their questions. "Do you like them?" she asked, looking from one to another.

"Very much," General Brennan answered. "You and your brother, along with the other children are going to school when you arrive at your new home."

"So I can learn to read and write better," Anwen said.

"Yes," Brennan replied.

"What else will I learn?" she asked Brennan.

"Your numbers," Brennan answered.

"Why do I need to learn numbers?" she asked.

"Numbers are very important Anwen and you're going to find that out," Brennan answered. "You and Adair will be leaving before the others and you're going to help Colonel Oliver build your new homes on Gaia."

"I am?" she asked surprised.

"You're very talented Anwen and these drawings are what they're going to use, if that's alright with you," Brennan answered.

"Of course it is," she replied with a bright smile.

"You're what we call an engineer and a builder Anwen – that's why you need to learn numbers – and those numbers will help make you a better engineer and builder in the future," Boro told her.

"You and Adair are under age and have no adult supervision, and the both of you need an adult to look after you," Brennan told her.

"It's not going to be like Estella's home, is it?" she asked.

"No," Brennan answered.

xxx

Gaia

The next morning Colonel Corrina and the elders walked through the stargate to Gaia. When they arrived they were introduced to Colonel Oliver and then were taken on a tour of their new home.

xxx

"Colonel," Elin sand when she saw Corrina.

"Hello Elin," he replied smiling at her and told her why he was there.

"They have no guardian?" she asked with a concerned look on her face.

"No," he answered. "We have to place them with a family because they're under age and I thought of you and the others."

"Tell me about them," she said.

Afterwards the Colonel and Elin met with her's and Balin's folk and told them about Anwen and Adair and they agreed to take in the two young ones.

xxx

Arda

When the elders returned from Gaia they told their people about their new home.

Colonel Corrina also returned with Elin and introduced her to General Brennan.

"You're the one who's the Commander of everyone in the Army," Elin said to Brennan with a smile.

"Yes," he replied. "I understand you're the leader of your people."

"I am," she said.

"We both have something in common," Brennan told her laughing. "Let me introduce you to Anwen."

Elin followed General Brennan and Colonel Corrina.

"Anwen, this is Elin," Brennan said when they walked up to her at the table.

Anwen looked up from her drawings.

"Hello Anwen," Elin said sitting at the table and smiled at the young girl.

"Hello," Anwen replied studying Elin, and decided she liked her.

The General departed and left the Colonel, Elin and Anwen alone to discuss Anwen's and Adair's new living arrangements.

xxx

"They gave us new clothes and boots to wear Elin," Adair said excitedly while Colonel Corrina was helping them pack their new clothes and boots in their large soft black travel satchels.

Anwen and Adair were each given two new pairs of boots and wore one pair on their feet and also new clothes.

"They also gave us new clothes and boots," Elin told the children.

"They've been very kind to us," Anwen said.

"Yes they have," Elin replied and thanked the Lord silently for their fellow mortals.

After Colonel Corrina showed Anwen how to pack her drawings, he handed Adair a present. "Don't open this until you get to your new home," Corrina told him.

"I won't, and thank you," he said smiling up at the Colonel.

"I'll carry your luggage to your new home," Corrina told the children and they left the tent.

"Dial the gate Sargent," Corrina said when they arrived at the stargate.

"Yes sir," she replied.

Anwen and Adair stared at the stargate with open mouths while the chevrons were encoding, and jumped back when the event horizon shot out.

"Do not be afraid," Elin told the children and took Anwen's hand and Captain Riva took Adair's.

"Let's go," Corrina said and walked up the ramp.

The others followed, and they too walked up the ramp and through the stargate.

"Look Adair," Anwen said looking around in awe when they arrived on Gaia," "We're finally home."

Adair also looked around and when he looked up in the sky he saw two moons and smiled.

"This way," Corrina said and the children followed the Colonel, Elin and Captain Riva.

After Anwen and Adair met the others they settled into a tent next to Elin's. Adair opened his gift from the Colonel and smiled when he saw a small wooden boat and set it on the table next to his cot. Adair told the Colonel he wanted to be the Captain of his own ship when he grew up.

xxx

It was decided that afternoon that the final humans on Arda will depart for Gaia in two days and Colonel Corrina will supervise their departure.

The Generals and Colonel Corrina had dinner with the elders that evening and told them when they would be leaving.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

Early the next morning General Brennan contacted Atlantis and earth.

xxx

Atlantis

When one of the Army Special Forces Extraction Teams arrived for their briefing with the CO, he told them their mission.

"When you return to Atlantis your counterparts from earth will be waiting to take the prisoner back to earth," their CO told them.

"Why earth Colonel?" one soldier asked.

"That's classified," he answered.

"When do we leave sir?" another soldier asked.

He told them. "Dismissed," their CO said.

Their counterparts on earth were being told about their mission at the same time.

xxx

Eönwë and his Maiar saw a great encampment a few hours out and the other children of Eru Ilúvatar. He also saw the strange thing and wondered what it was; and knew he'll get the answers to his questions when they arrive.

xxx

"Riders are approaching Colonel," Sam told Salar.

"Thank you Sam," she said and then contacted General Brennan.

The Host of the Valar came to a halt on Eönwë's command when a woman surrounded by many guards was standing there waiting for them. He knew instantly she was their Supreme Commander. "I'm Eönwë, Lord Manwë's Herald and Commander of the Host of the Valar," he said when he rode up to her.

"I'm General Charlotte Brennan, the Supreme Commander of all the Atlantis Galactic Federation Armed Forces. My President, the leader of my Government, has authorized me to give you certain information," she replied.

Eönwë nodded his head and dismounted his horse.

"Follow me," Brennan said.

King Finarfin, Prince Ingwion and the other elves were shocked that none of the other children of Eru Ilúvatar gave deference to Manwë's Herald nor the other Maiar who got off their horses and followed Lord Eönwë into a large tent.

"Ten hut," Dima said, and everyone in the tent stood at attention.

"At ease," Brennan said and sat at the head of the table with General Dima sitting on her right; then General's Jaro, Boro, Thos and Colonel's Salar and Santana. Eönwë sat on her left and his Maiar Captains and the King and Prince sat on the other side of the table.

General Brennan introduced herself again and then the others: this is General Stefan Dima, who's a human; this is General Jaro and he's a Dunn; this is General Boro, who's an Aldan; this is General Thos, and he's an Iden. This is Colonel Milan Salar and Colonel Robert Santana, who're both human. Colonel Salar is the Commander of this post," she told them.

The King and Prince had never seen anyone with General Jaro's and Colonel Salar's coloring; and they and the Maiar studied the non-human children of Eru Ilúvatar.

Eönwë then introduced his Maiar Captains, King Finarfin and Prince Ingwion.

"Sirs and ma'am," they all said.

None of the others knew that Eönwë had contacted the Valar when he arrived and that they were looking into the tent and listening to their conversation, or that Lord Ulmo was in the tent unclad.

When Morgan Le Fay appeared in the tent Eönwë noticed the others didn't seem surprised by her presence. He, his Maiar Captains, the King and Prince looked at the woman bathed in pure white light and they all knew she was good, but she wasn't an Ainu.

"Hello Morgan," General Dima said looking up at her with a smile on his face, and she returned the smile. "This is Morgan Le Fey and she's one of the Ancients."

Olórin nodded his head and smiled at her and she returned the nod and smile.

"I thought when an Ancient fights an Ori it's a battle until the end," Colonel Salar said looking at Morgan with a raised eyebrow." What happened to Adria?"

Everyone saw the Colonel smile and Morgan disappear in white light.

"What was her answer Colonel," Brennan asked.

"She said Adria's no more ma'am," Salar answered.

'It seems we did our job better than we thought," Dima said laughing.

"Maybe she's back in the other Ancients good graces," Colonel Santana said.

"She doesn't care about that Colonel," Dima turned and said to him. "When they kicked her out she became a free agent, and she can do what she damn well pleases without having them looking over her shoulder. They've already punished her and they can't do it again."

"I admire her sir. She took Adria head on because she knew it had to be done," Salar said.

"So do I Colonel," Brennan said smiling at her.

Eönwë and the others wanted to know more about the Ancients and Adria.

"What is Morgan?" Olórin asked.

"She's pure energy and pure thought," Santana answered.

Others appeared in the tent with glasses and cups, and after General Brennan told them at ease, they began serving everyone.

General Brennan dismissed them after everyone was served.

"What does dismissed mean?" the King asked the female General after taking a sip of his tea.

"Permission to leave," she answered.

xxx

"The _white light_ and the Ancients are connected, and in order for you to understand that connection you'll have to know the story of the Ancients; and Colonel Santana is here to tell you that story," Brennan told them. "Colonel."

"Thank you ma'am," he said. "The universe we live in is endless, and goes on forever. The Ancients awoke well over 50 million years ago on a planet called Celestis, which is at the other end of the universe, and they were the first humans."

Sam told the Maiar and elves how many years that was based on the Year of the Trees (9.58 Years of the Sun to 1 year of the Trees = 479,000,000). "That's a conservative estimate," Sam told them.

"Mortals awoke that long ago?" Prince Ingwion asked with a surprised look on his face.

"Yes," Brennan answered.

"That's why Morgan looks like a mortal," Olórin said nodding his head in understanding.

"Humans were awaken in three different places in the universe at different times and the Alterans were the first humans," Santana replied.

"And we all converged on this foul world in the Pegasus galaxy," Dima said.

"You may continue Colonel," Brennan told him.

"Thank you ma'am," he said, and told them the story of the Ancients and Ori and why the Ancients left their home world. "With great power comes great responsibility and the Ancients knew that, but the Ori didn't and that power corrupted them. Before the Ancients left their home world they made a weapon of great power to destroy the Ori, but decided not to use it."

"Why didn't the Ancients use the weapon to destroy the Ori?" King Finarfin asked.

"They thought they'd become like their sisters and brothers and they weren't going down that slippery slope," Brennan answered.

"They made the right decision," Olórin said.

"When the Ancients arrived in our home galaxy thousands of years later, which we call the Milky Way galaxy, they first settled and the planet Dakara; but left after they set up the Stargate Network and seeded life on the worlds with a stargate," Santana told them.

"How did the Ancients seed life?" Prince Ingwion asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The Alterans were given the knowledge to seed life. The Ori only seeded life in Ori home galaxy, whereas the Ancients seeded life not only in the Milky Way galaxy, but also the Pegasus galaxy; Ida galaxy; Andromeda galaxy; Triangulum galaxy, and thousands of other galaxies extending far out in the universe. However, they had no say in what that life was going to look like. When the Ori seeded life in the Ori home galaxy they were all humans like themselves. When the Ancients seeded life in the Milky Way galaxy none of them were human, but many were humanoid and some were non-humanoid; and none of them looked like themselves, which surprised them," Santana answered.

"The Ancients never seeded life on earth because they moved and lived there after they left Dakara, and they never knew that's where men were going to awake eons later; and that was the reason why none of the life forms they encountered looked like them," Brennan told them. "The Ancients and Ori only planted the seeds, but it's the Lord who decided what His children were going to look like, and not the Ancients or the Ori."

"In some cases the Lord decided not to give life to those seeds and let them die out," Salar said.

xxx

"The Ancients left earth after a plague swept across the Milky Way galaxy and traveled to this galaxy over 10 million years ago, which we call the Pegasus galaxy, and they were here millions of years before you arrived," Santana said looking at the Maiar. "As I said earlier, they set up a Stargate Network in this galaxy; and a stargate is nothing but a wormhole which takes you from one planet to another in the same galaxy – and you're literally walking across the stars. The Ancients were also great builders and the gifts that were bestowed on them all had to do with space and the stars; and they could also extract any substance from space. When the Ancients seeded life in this galaxy, almost 60% of the people in were human, but not all, and General Jaro is from the Pegasus galaxy."

The Maiar, King and Prince looked at the General.

"The Ancients also seeded our home world, along with General Thos' home world," Boro told them.

"The Aldans awoke in the Andromeda galaxy and the Idens awoke in the Triangulum galaxy," Brennan told them. "The Aldans are the 6th Great Race and the Ancients kept an eye on them like they did the Asgards, who awoke in the Ida galaxy."

"The Ancients were also men's teachers in the Pegasus galaxy and taught them how to live their lives; but they never showed themselves to the different mortal races, and they called the Ancients, _the Ancestors_. The Asgards did the same thing in the Ida galaxy, and they too never showed themselves to the other mortal races in that galaxy because they were non-humanoid," Santana told them. "When the Ancients walked through the stargate to another world in this galaxy, they encountered a race that was just as powerful as they were," Santana told them.

"Did the Ancients seed that world?" Nienna's Maia asked.

"Yes they did ma'am," Santana answered.

"What does a non-humanoid look like?" King Finarfin asked.

"Sam show them the Asgards and Nox," Brennan said

"Yes General," he replied and a projection appeared around the tent.

"That's Thor, who was the Supreme Commander of all the Asgard Fleet," Brennan told them.

The King and Prince looked at the strange little creature, but the Maiar knew the Asgards were one of Eru Ilúvatar's children.

"That's Lya and she's a Nox," Brennan said when she appeared. "The Nox were very close to nature and lived in the forest. The Ancients loved the water and built their cities on water. We don't know what the Furlings look like, but we do know that they too were non-humanoid and they loved making things from wood. The Ancients seeded the Asgards, Nox and Furlings home worlds; and the Nox and Furlings were awaken in the Milky Way galaxy and they too had the ability to ascend, but not the Asgards because they weren't given that gift."

"Don't forget General that the Ancients seeded many other worlds far out in the universe, and I'm sure they're other Great Races out there," Boro said.

"Point taken General," Brennan replied.

"We thought all mortals go beyond the circles of the world," Oromë's Maia said.

"We all do, but the Alterans were the exception. They were given the choice to either go beyond the circles of the world or to ascend, and all the Ori ascended at the same time. The majority of the Ancients did so over time, but not all of them and some chose to go beyond the circles of the world," Santana replied.

"The Lord had His reasons for doing that," Salar told them.

xxx

"The Ancients made things that the sun couldn't destroy, and the majority of the things they made came from the light," Santana said.

"The light?" Olórin asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The Ancients made many things with the light, or the Lord's light as we call it, and they could change and manipulate the light to suit their purposes because they were given that gift. They infused many crystals and stones with that light and each crystal or stone had a different function. In it's purest form the light is too bright and blinding for anyone to look upon, and if someone tried to use one of those crystals or stones and they didn't know its purpose, it would have dire consequences for them. That's why you don't touch anything they made," Brennan answered.

"We learned over time the reasons why they made those crystals and stones and their purpose," Santana said.

"How did they make the light?" King Finarfin asked, thinking about the Light of the Two Trees and the silmarils.

"We don't know," Santana answered.

"But the Aldans can also manipulate and change the light," Brennan said.

The Maiar and the King and Prince looked at General Boro.

"So could the Asgards General," Boro replied to Brennan.

"Point taken General," she replied.

xxx

"Now I'll tell you how the Ancients and the _white light_ are connected. Over 100 years ago the _white light_ came to Arda and took the majority of the humans in the East and South. When we found them over 100 years later we knew who killed them and how they died. The humans on Arda saw a _white light_ take their loved ones and friends; but they also heard a sound and saw something else before the _white light_ appeared. What they heard made them look up and they saw something they'd never seen before and couldn't describe, and then they saw a _white light_ take everyone they knew and loved, which they couldn't comprehend. What they heard was a Wraith dart and the _white light_ they saw is a Wraith culling beam. You've always lived in a bad neighborhood and this is the Wraith's home galaxy and always has been; and everyone in this galaxy knows about them and now so do you. The Wraith are an immortal race and they're tall, strong and they all have long white hair. Each Wraith hive is ruled by a Queen, who's very powerful, and the Ancients knew they'd met their match.

The Ancients fought the Wraith for over a hundred years and they were the only ones standing between the Wraith and everyone else in this galaxy. They eventually lost to the Wraith and the remaining Ancients either ascended or returned to earth through the stargate on Atlantis – and then the Wraith had complete control over half of this galaxy. When the Ancients returned to earth they were surprised to see us, and some of them became our teachers and married into the local population, and the rest ascended. The Wraith then culled most of the mortals in this galaxy; and that means they killed them by feeding on them," General Brennan told them.

"They ate them?" Prince Ingwion asked wide-eyed.

"In a manner of speaking, yes," Brennan answered.

"They drain your life force and that's how they eat," Jaro said. "The Wraith are part humanoid and part something else, and it's that something else that dictates their eating habits and they need to feed on other humanoids in order to survive."

"That's what the Ancients found when they walked through the stargate on that world. They knew mortals were on that world, but they didn't know there was something else on that world before they seeded that plant, and that something else killed all the mortals by feeding on them, and that something else turned into the Wraith afterwards," Santana told them.

"It's there biology and they can't eat the same way we do," Salar said. "No one can change them and they can't change themselves. They are what they are and it's their nature."

"The Wraith had been in hibernation for almost 500 years and when they awoke they were hungry, and they found plenty of food on Arda, but we don't know how they found out about this world," Brennan told them. "Sam show them the humans we found from Arda from both of the cullings."

"Yes General," he replied and a large screen appeared around the tent and they saw the skeletal remains of the Atani in cocoons.

The Maiar wanted to know what Sam is and how he did that, and the King and Prince were astonished at the sight before them.

"I can see the two of you have never before seen death on such a grand scale," Boro said to the King and Prince.

King Finarfin was sickened by the sight and Prince Ingwion had his mouth slightly open.

"But you have," Olórin said.

"We've seen much worse," Jaro replied looking at the Maia.

"Where did you find them?" Eönwë asked.

"In another part of this galaxy?" Brennan answered.

"How did they get there?"Eönwë asked.

"Sam show them the Wraith culling Arda," Brennan said.

"Yes General," he replied and they saw the Wraith hive ships in space above Arda releasing their darts, which descended upon Arda and cull the human population and carry them back to their ships.

"They were among the stars," the Prince said surprised.

"We told you the Ancients traveled across the stars to reach our home galaxy and they did that in space ships, and those were Wraith hive ships above Arda," Brennan replied.

"Space ships are ships that travel across the stars," Santana told them.

"Sam show them the Wraith leaving this star system," Dima said.

"Yes General," he replied and the projection showed the Wraith ships jumping into hyperspace.

"What's that?" Prince Ingwion asked.

"The Wraith opened a window to another dimension, which we call hyperspace and jumped in. The Ancients were the first race to make hyper drive engines and travel around the galaxy in another dimension, and there's more than one way to travel through space," Boro answered.

"Space is vast and to get from one place to another takes a very long time, depending on your propulsion system. The Ancients built the Stargate Networks to make space travel easier for everyone," Salar said.

xxx

"What do the Wraith look like?" Eönwë asked.

"Sam show them the Wraith," Brennan said.

"Yes General," he replied.

"You can't see their faces," Eönwë said looking at three Wraiths.

"All of them wear those masks and no one knows what they look like; however we do have a picture of Todd," Brennan replied and his face appeared on the screen. "He's not very pretty, is he?"

"No," Olórin answered.

"When we arrived in the Pegasus galaxy over 500 years ago we didn't know about the Wraith and we inadvertently woke all at them at the same time. When they awoke they realized there wasn't enough food for all of them, which instituted a Wraith civil war and the strong Wraith killed off the weaker ones; and by that I mean the ones without a Queen, and their civil war lasted for years. My guess is that most of the Wraith are dead and only those hives remain, but I could be wrong. I'm sure our good friend Todd is still alive because he's a survivor and if he knew anything about those hive ships he would've told us," Brennan told them.

"Why?" Eönwë asked the General.

"Todd has his own agenda and he's helped us in the past, but he never told us everything. Todd is very unusual for a Wraith, in that he has sense of humor and a sense of honor. It was Todd who told us how they defeated the Ancients, but Todd being Todd didn't tell us everything and we found out the rest on our own," Brennan answered.

"After their civil war the Wraith changed their tactics and they did that in order to survive," Jaro told them.

"It turns out when we awoke the Wraith by accident they went to war with each other and most of them died as a result. What the Ancients couldn't do with all their power, we did by our own ignorance," Santana said.

"You're right Colonel and we got lucky, and sometimes it's better to be lucky than good," Brennan replied.

"The Ancients had the greater power and might, how did they lose?" Prince Ingwion asked with a perplexed look on this face.

"The Ancients had the Wraith on the run and back on their heels and they were picking them off one-by-one, which was a smart tactic. Then the Wraith did something they'd never done before – which was to fight the Ancients together and combined all their might, and it worked. It was a simply military strategy on the Wraith's part and they were ruthless and smashed the Ancients. The Wraith are smart and clever and the Ancients found that out the hard way, and so did we. When you know why you're losing to your enemy, you have to change your strategy and tactics, and that's what the Wraith did, and the Ancients couldn't adjust or adapt.

Another problem the Ancients had was trying to save everyone – which was a noble goal, but impossible because no one can save everyone – and we saved who we could. When we found out about the Wraith we knew we couldn't go head to head with them and we used different battle tactics, which was stealth warfare, and they never saw us coming; and we did the same thing the Ancients did in the beginning and picked each hive off one at a time. It was never about power, but your battle tactics against power, and you can always get around power. The Wraith proved that against the Ancients and we proved that against the Wraith. The Wraith think they're better than everyone else and everyone is beneath them, and they thought they were invincible because they defeated the Ancients. They also don't fear anyone because they have no reason to. We learned a lot about the Wraith by our encounters with them, and they're extremely hard to kill and they're strong and powerful and can snap you like a twig," Dima answered.

"These are not orcs, goblins, trolls, dragons or men, and only our guns and other weapons can kill them," Thos said.

"Why?" Eönwë asked.

"The Wraith's biology is very unique and unlike anything we've ever seen before and their wounds heal instantly," Brennan answered.

"However, the Wraith bodies are humanoid like ours and we found out a bullet has the same impact on their bodies as other humanoid bodies. A bullet is a projectile and damages a body on impact and the damage is internal. A bullet can shatter bones; travel through the body hitting vital organs, or break up into small fragments internally on impact. When a bullet enters any part of a body, blood splatters everywhere. Unlike a spear or an arrow, a bullet travels at a greater velocity and distance because it's coming out of a barrel instead of a hand...and the longer the barrel, the bullet being ejected can travel at a greater distance. When the impact of that bullet hits, it's devastating to the body, and if it's a head shot, the head will literally explode, and if it's a body shot, wherever the bullet hits will come right off. The bullets we used on the Wraith did the same internal damage to their bodies and hit their vital organs – and that's how they died," Santana told them.

"Why do you need such weapons?" Olórin asked.

"There's no difference between an arrow and a gun – you're aiming and shooting," Brennan answered looking at the Maia. "Those swords are going to cut off your enemies heads and other body parts, and a bullet does the same thing – the only difference is how it's done."

"Wars are fought differently now, and they're fought at a great distance and the weapons we use are very different and much more powerful. You didn't send a scouting party to scout out the terrain you're going to be fighting on; nor did you send any engineers to build roads, bridges or cut through mountains to make it easier for your Army. You don't come into a place and start a war without being prepared, and you have to know everything about your enemy before you send men and women into harms ways...and that's what a professional Army does. Before we came here we knew everything about this place; who the enemy is, and everything he has, but we're not going to tell you because this is not our war to fight," Boro said to Eönwë.

"You also have no miliary intelligence and those eagles don't know everything, but we do," Jaro replied.

"We're not a professional Army like you are," King Finarfin said.

"We know," Brennan replied. "We all went to the War College to learn how to fight wars and we do this for a living and get paid for it; and we can tell that those fresh face puppies out there don't have any combat experience and they've never heard a shot fired. We're all battle harden and tested and we've seen many battlefields. I wonder how they're going to react when they see a friend's body parts strewn everywhere; or from the stench of the dead and rotting bodies on the battlefield, and when someone's blood and brains splatters in their faces. In the end you're come to know the true horrors of war like we do, and your victory will come over dead and mangled bodies and utter devastation. War is a brutal and nasty business, but it's a necessary evil. When we find the Wraith we're going to war with them because of what they did to our fellow humans on Arda."

"How are you going to fight them?" King Finarfin asked.

"The battles are going to be fought in space," Brennan answered.

"How?" Olórin asked.

"The same way battles are always fought in space," General Thos answered.

"We don't know how battles are fought in space," Prince Ingwion said.

"We know," Jaro replied.

"That's going to be a nightmare ma'am and sirs," Salar said turning and looking at them.

"Yes it is Colonel," Thos replied.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

"How did you find out about this galaxy?" Olórin asked.

"We started studying the sun, moon and stars the day we awoke on earth; and as the ages went by we learned more about the cosmos and discovered many things through something we made, which could see far out into space. That's how we discovered this galaxy, and many others," Brennan answered.

"Stars are very important because they tell where you are in space," Boro said.

"It was Morgan who left us a clue where to find this planet, but it was Colonel Salar who found this world," Brennan said.

The Maiar and elves looked at the female Colonel.

"Sam show us this star system," Brennan said.

"Yes General," he replied.

"This is your star system," Brennan told them.

The Maiar and elves looked at their star system.

"Sam bring up the Sol System star system," Brennan said.

Sam did so.

"They're very different," Olórin said looking at the two star systems.

"No star system in the universe is alike," Boro replied.

"What is the Sol System?" the King asked.

"The Sol System is where earth is located in the Milky Way galaxy – and the word Sol means sun," Dima answered.

"Sam show us what we call the Big Dipper in this star system," Brennan said.

"Yes General," he replied.

The Maiar saw the Sickle of the Valar.

"Overlay the Big Dipper in the constellation Ursa Major in the Sol System," Brennan said.

Sam did as he was ordered.

"They're the same," Eönwë said looking at the star map.

"Not quite," Brennan replied. "Both of these constellations are in the same position in both star systems and they're the brightest stars in this constellation and also in the constellation Ursa Major. However, the Big Dipper in this constellation has seven stars, whereas the one in Ursa Major has eight stars."

Just then the 8th star appeared on the star map.

"We call this star Mizar and the star next to it Alcor, which is a binary star system; and binary means a system of two stars revolving around a center. The Mizar in your star system is not a binary star system, but a single star system, and that's what makes the constellations different. They're also many other differences in our two star systems," Brennan said. "You already know what your star system looks like and Sam will show you the Sol System star system."

"You have many more worlds in your star system," the Prince said looking at the star map.

"Four of them are gas giants and two are ice giants," Dima replied.

"The Milky Way galaxy is much larger than the Pegasus galaxy and the galaxies were General's Boro and Thos are from are also larger," Brennan told them.

"What's the planet closest to earth?" Olórin asked after studying the star map and noticed they were very similar in size, yet different.

"We call it Venus and it's earth's twin or sister planet, owning to it's composition, size and gravity," Santana answered.

"It's also the opposite of earth and the reason it's the brightest star in the universe is because there's an angel standing guard over Venus. It's a horrible place and nothing or no one can live there – and we call Venus, Tartarus," Salar said.

"Why is there an Ainu standing guard over Venus?" the King asked.

"It has something to do with our devil," Dima answered, but didn't elaborate.

After General Brennan dismissed her staff and the elves left the tent for a 15 minute break, she told Eönwë why they only wanted to talk to them without the elves present after lunch.

He agreed with her and then she left the tent.

xxx

When everyone returned to the tent they found that the Corporals had put new water pitchers, tea and coffee pots, clean glasses and tea cups on the table and had taken the others one away.

"Colonel Santana will tell you how we found out about Atlantis and came to this galaxy," Brennan told them. "Colonel."

"Thank you ma'am," he said. "We found out about Atlantis through the Greek Philosopher Plato, who described it in accurate detail long ago. The story he told was about the Long Lost City of Atlantis, the war between the Ancients and Wraith, and it was also a warning to men on Earth about the Ori. After he told that story men on earth began looking for the Long Lost City of Atlantis under water, and we looked under every sea and ocean, but to avail; and as time went by everyone thought Atlantis was a myth. When we found the stargate in Egypt, we began to explore the different worlds in our home galaxy that also had a stargate to expand out knowledge of the universe. After we found the gate address to Atlantis we walked through the stargate on earth to Atlantis in this galaxy," Santana told them.

"Where did you find Atlantis?" Olórin asked.

"That planet is far away from here and Atlantis was sitting on the ocean floor when we arrived and had been for over 10,000 years. When the Atlantis Expedition arrived the city sensed their presence and the lights came on. Everyone felt that the city had a life of its own, and it does," Santana answered.

"Is Atlantis still at the bottom of the ocean?" the Prince asked.

"No, a few hours after the Expedition arrived our engineers brought the city to the surface and she's now sitting on the water," Santana answered (but didn't tell them Atlantis is no longer on that world).

"Was there any damage to the city?" the King asked.

"No," Brennan answered. "Atlantis was in perfect condition and she still looks the same as the day she was built. Atlantis was built many millions of years ago."

"How is that possible General?" the Prince asked Brennan.

"Because the Ancients built that city," she answered.

"The Ancients were mighty builders indeed, if not even the sun nor water can destroy what they made," Olórin said.

"Some things they made, but all of them," Boro replied.

"The Ancients did everything on a grand scale, such as building the Stargate Network so many different races can walk across the stars in hundreds of thousands of galaxies. But their greatest achievement was to make the seeds of life and plant them – and everything else they did pales in comparison," Santana told them.

"That's evaluation on a scale that's only second to the Lord's," Dima said looking at the Maiar and elves.

"The Ancients weren't perfect by any means and they made a lot of mistakes and we followed behind them and cleaned up after them and fought their wars, and they left a big mess in this galaxy. That's how desperate they became when they were fighting the Wrath; and in the end the Wraith ran them out of this galaxy. By the time they returned to earth, they had all but died out as a race," Brennan said.

"This plane of existence – or living in time as we call it – was never meant to be their true home, that's why they were run out of every place they lived and were given the gift of ascension; and the higher plane of existence where they now live is where they were always suppose to go, or beyond the circles of the world," Boro replied.

"It's no consequence that the Ancients lived in the two galaxies where men awoke and they were lead to both galaxies. The Ancients were always meant to be our guardians in the Milky Way and Pegasus galaxies. When humans awoke in these two galaxies they were already in place and had been for many millions of years," Dima told the Maiar and elves.

"The Valar watch over Arda," the Prince said.

"The Valar don't watch over men and never have, and when they raised those mountains they shut men out forever. When they did that one of the Ancients stepped in after men encountered their brother. Their brother had many men, women and children killed by having them thrown alive in a pit of fire when they refused to follow him. Whoever that Ancient is, he or she protected the majority of men from their brother, and it's that Ancient who spoke to them in their dreams and told them where to go to get out of harms way, and the majority of them went South. That Ancient also made sure that those men stayed out of the sight of the elves," Brennan replied.

"Morgoth had men burned alive?" the Prince asked.

"Of course he did," Dima answered. "Why should that surprise you?"

"We didn't know that," the King said.

"Neither did the Valar because they didn't hear their cries and pleas," Brennan replied.

"When you go return to Aman you can tell your brethren what Morgoth did to the second born shortly after they awoke, while all of you were sitting safe behind your mountains," Santana said to the King and Prince in an unpleasant tone.

"I thought the Ancients aren't suppose to interfere," one Maia said.

"Non-interference is their highest law, however, in that case that Ancient did the Lord's Will," Dima replied.

"There's absolutely nothing the Valar can do for men and they're superfluous when it comes to us. Superfluous means unnecessary and not needed. There's nothing they can teach us, tell us and they can't do anything for us. They're only here for you and no one else, and everything they've ever done was with only you in mind," Brennan said looking at the King and Prince.

"The elves have always had the Valar and men have never had the Valar, but men never needed the Valar because they have the Ancients," Santana told the elves.

xxx

"I've often wondered by the Lord gave the Ancients the gifts He gave them and why he awoke humans at the other end of the universe long ago, until I thought about what He saw in the beginning," Salar said.

"One of the things He saw in the beginning was the Replicators," Brennan said.

"Yes ma'am, and it was the Ancients and Asgards who destroyed them," Salar replied.

"The weapons of the gods," Dima said smiling at the Colonel.

"Yes sir," she replied.

"What type of weapons were they?" the King asked.

"The Asgards made the same weapon the Ancients made long ago because they had access to their knowledge. The weapon they made to combat their enemy could literally destroy the entire universe and everything therein, and beyond; and that's how powerful the light is when it's made into a weapon," Santana answered.

"Why would Eru Ilúvatar give the Asgards that kind of knowledge?" the King asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It was the nature of the enemy they were fighting and the Asgards knew they had to go big to destroy the Replicators in the Ida galaxy, and it was only the light that could destroy them. It was the Ancient weapon on Dakara that destroyed all the Replicators in the Milky Way galaxy, and that weapon was also made from the light, which could also wipe out all life. After we saw that light in it's most destructive form, we knew after using that weapon that it had to be destroyed," Brennan answered.

"We told you that the Ancients and Asgards both knew how to make and change the light into something else and make it do what they wanted it to do; and before the Asgards died they destroyed all those weapons and the knowledge of how to make them," Santana said.

"I'm glad to hear that," Olórin said, thinking about the knowledge and abilities his Atar gave to His other children.

"The light doesn't affect you?" the Prince asked, noticing none of them had light in their eyes.

"It never has. We use it in our everyday lives to do many things, the same as the Ancients and Asgards did," Brennan answered.

"Thanks to the Aldans, who're now the only masters of the light," General Thos said.

"Our people found the light in crystals in a cave on another world in our solar system," General Boro told them. "When one of our scientists picked one up to examine it, another one appeared in its place – which astounded the science team. There were many of those crystals under water infused with the same light and imbedded into the walls all over that large cave. When the science team took the crystal back to Aldania and after studying it, they realized the light is pure and can't be marred by anyone or anything. Many years later we found a substance on Aldania which we made into crystals and it was the same crystal infused with the light we found in the cave. We infused one crystal with only a small drop of the light from the first crystal we found, and it lit up the entire area. We realized then we only needed a little of the light to light our entire worlds, homes, businesses and lamps. We also use the light to heal our bodies, the same as the Ancients and Asgards did, and it can also heal the waters and land; and because of it's purity, power and potency, we had to alter it."

"They changed it into what we call _energy_ to suit us for our everyday needs," Jaro said. "Since the Aldans are part of the AGF, they share the light with all its members."

"The Aldans can move this planet, its sun, moon and stars to another star system if they wish, and they can also make stars," Brennan told the Maiar and elves.

"How?" Tulkas' Maia asked looking at the General.

"With the light," Boro answered.

"The Aldans were given great knowledge of space and they too can go big; but their knowledge is different from the Ancients and Asgards," General Dima told them.

"Many ages ago one of our Prophets told our people that others will come to our world one day and they'll be like us, yet unlike us, and they'll need something we have and they'll give us something in return," Boro told them.

"Who were they?" Eönwë asked the General Boro.

"The humans from earth," Boro answered.

"They were a God send to us," Dima said.

"Before the Asgards died they helped us a great deal and gave us many things, and many of those things were the crystals and stones infused with the light. We don't know how to create the light, let along infuse it into crystals and stones. We only had a limited supply and we needed more. When we met the Aldans they were the answer to our prayers because they know how to do that, and they have an unlimited supply. We eventually became friends and they're one of the four founding members of the AGF. What we gave them in return was access to the Asgards and Ancients Repository of Knowledge – which is all their knowledge – and that's when they found out they too have great knowledge of space and could do things they weren't aware of, until they read those catalogues. We each had what the other needed," Brennan told them.

"I assume you can also use the light to destroy General," Olórin said looking at Boro.

"Yes we can," he replied.

"The light has always been a double edge sword," Dima said.

"The Ancients used the weapon on Dakara to seed life in our home galaxy, but we were the ones who turned it into a weapon to destroy the Replicators in our home galaxy," Brennan told them.

"The Ancients, Asgards, Furlings and Nox never made any jewels because they meant nothing to them," Santana said.

"When you had the knowledge they had and could do what they could do, jewels were trivial in comparison Colonel," Brennan replied. "The next time any of you look up into the sky, just remember that the Ancients were literally ripping space apart and doing the damn impossible, including pushing space into subspace and opening different dimensions in the space-time continuum to either travel through, or to do other things, including mining substances from space to make weapons. The Ancients also made stones so they could keep an eye on what their brothers and sister's armies were doing at the other end of the universe – and they nor the Ori were the wiser. The Asgards increased the sun's mass over the planet Halla in the Ida galaxy and then created a black hole, which sucked Halla into it because the Replicators had taken over that entire planet.

"How large were the stones?" the King asked.

"They were very small and your entire hand can cover one," Santana answered.

"You're thinking of size and that's a mistake. As you can see the Asgards were small, yet they had great knowledge and were very powerful, and they surpassed all those mighty ascended beings who have great power," Brennan told them.

"Never underestimate your opponent, no matter their size," Salar said to the elves. "The bigger they come, the harder they fall."

xxx

"Where did the Replicators come from General?" Eönwë asked Brennan.

"No one knows," she answered looking at the angel. "They just appeared one day in the Asgards home galaxy. Your enemy will always come from somewhere else without you expecting it – that's why we're always vigilant. The Replicators perplexed the Asgards and Supreme Commander Thor had to humble himself and come to us and ask for our help. It was Colonel Jack O'Neill and Major Samantha Carter who had the answers he was seeking."

"No matter how great and mighty the Asgards were, they didn't know everything and no one does – that's why we all work together to solve problems," General Thos said.

"Someone different has the answer to each piece of the puzzle," Jaro replied.

"The Asgards were your neighbors and your Father made sure the Replicators by-passed this galaxy because men had not yet awaken on Arda. Instead, they invaded the Milky Way galaxy and their first stop was earth when they found out about us through the Asgards, and then we had to deal with them," Salar told the Maiar.

"Now I understand why the Asgards were never given the gift of ascension ma'am," Santana said looking at Brennan.

"They were held in reserve and they were also the furthest away from the Milky Way galaxy," she replied.

"They were out-of-sight ma'am, and when the Ori invaded the Milky Way galaxy they didn't know about the Asgards; nor did they know that our galaxy would be their doom," Salar said.

"Why the Asgards?" Eönwë asked.

"Unlike the other great races they were a true military and they protected men on earth for thousands of years from the Goa'uld in our home galaxy. The Ancients asked them to do that after they returned to earth and before they ascended," Dima answered.

"The Goa'uld were pure evil and not even your brother could think of something like that; and they terrorized everyone in the Milky Way galaxy for over 5,000 years. It was the Replicators who killed all the Goa'uld when invaded the Milky Way galaxy," Salar said looking at the Maiar.

"No one in the Milky Way galaxy could kill all the Goa'uld at once except the Replicators, Colonel," Dima replied.

"Point taken sir," she said. "Now we know why they were sent to the Milky Way galaxy...and they were the Goa'uld's doom.

"Exactly, and the we destroyed all the Replicators," Dima replied.

xxx

"Another reason the Ancients watched over the Milky Way and Pegasus galaxies and protected everyone in these two galaxies with their power was because of the Ori," Brennan told them.

"The Valar protects us," the King said.

"The Valar could never protect anyone on Arda from the Ori," Brennan replied. "Sam show them in slow motion what the Ori's army did to the planet Kallana when they first invaded the Milky Way galaxy."

"Yes General," he said.

The Maiar and elves watched as the planet was engulfed and then blew apart.

"All the Jaffa who lived on that planet were killed before the Ori's army destroyed their home world," Brennan told them.

"The Valar couldn't protect men on Arda from the Wraith, who came to this world twice and took and killed the majority of them – and they were none the wiser," Dima said. "How were they going to protect anyone from that?"

"All power has its limits," Salar said to the elves.

The elves didn't respond.

"They were going to do the same thing to earth and they told us so," Santana told them. "The Ori played for keeps and they were doing that long before the Valar came here, and they wouldn't have hesitated to do the same thing to Arda. It was only the Ancients who could kill them and one did with our help because that was always their fight. But it was the Asgards who defeated the Ori's army the first time, and they slapped all of that ascended power back."

"How General?" Eönwë asked Brennan.

"With another weapon they made to combat the Ori's armies and to destroy the light, which they gave to us before they died so we could protect ourselves and earth from the Ori," she answered. "The Ori used the light as a weapon to kill, destroy and to enslave others wills; and the weapons on their ships and the crystals in the Prior's staffs were made from the light. They also destroyed the Ancient weapon on Dakara with the light."

"They did everyone a favor in the Milky Way galaxy," Dima said.

Olórin silently agreed with the General. "How were the Ori destroyed?" he asked.

Brennan told them about Merlin, but not everything. "...and he was the one who told us how to deliver the weapon, and afterwards he died. Shortly thereafter, Morgan started sending Dr. Daniel Jackson dreams where to find the _Ark of Truth_ – which was in the Ori home galaxy on the Alterans original home world, where the Ancients left it over 50 million years ago. When we killed the Ori that had unintended consequences no one could foresee; which was that Adria had ascended and had taken upon herself all the might and power of the Ori."

"What is the _Ark of Truth_?" Eönwë asked.

"It's a power draining device the Ancients made for their brothers and sisters which they refused to use; but we had no qualms about using it," Brennan answered. "Merlin knew the Ori were a great threat and they had to be killed; and before he ascended he thought long and hard how to kill the Ori. When he returned to earth as a human many ages later from his ascended state, the Ancients sent Morgan to keep an eye on him. When he made that weapon the first time Morgan took it away from him and imprisoned him, and then destroyed the weapon because it could also kill the Ancients; however, they didn't interfere the second time and watched as we killed their brothers and sisters. Morgan told us she finally realized Merlin was right about the Ori – that's why she lead us to the _Ark of Truth_."

"The _Ark of Truth_ was never meant to be used on the Ori, but Adria ma'am," Salar turned and said to Brennan. "The Ori were always meant to die by our hands."

"In hindsight that turned out to be true Colonel," she replied.

"How did the _Ark of Truth_ destroy Adria?" Nienna's Maia asked.

"When we found the _Ark of Truth_ and opened it in Adria's presence, the light in it's purest form shot out across that end of the universe and disconnected all the enslaved minds and wills to Adria's, and that's when Morgan appeared, and..." Brennan answered. "When the crew returned home we opened the _Ark of Truth_ and the light shot out across the entire Milky Way galaxy and disconnected the Ori's armies link to their Priors, who were the Ori's minions who controlled the people's minds and wills with the light in their staffs. We told them before they left our galaxy that all the Ori were dead, and what had been done to them and their ancestors in the name of the Ori since they awoke long ago; and many of them were confused and full of anger and regret. When they returned home we knew it would take them a long time to come to terms with what happened to them, if ever. Merlin told us the Ori were once good and had good intentions in the beginning and never harmed anyone; but after they ascended, they realized they had great power and knowledge and that's what corrupted them – and they used their power and knowledge for ill. In their ascended state they were fire, with horrible red eyes and monstrous faces," Brennan answered looking at Nienna's Maia.

"Hideous things they became, which reflected their sins," Salar told them.

"I wonder where the Ori are now?" Santana asked

"I'm sure the Lord had a lovely place waiting for them," Salar answered with a grin.

"It's time for lunch," Brennan said to her staff. "Dismissed."

Everyone walked out of the tent.

"This way," General Brennan said to the King and Prince.

The King and Prince sat at a table reserved for them and the Generals. They had a hearty vegetable soup, bread, cheese and fruit for lunch along with water and tea.

Eönwë, Olórin and the other Maiar were happy to see the other children of Eru Ilúvatar were sharing their meals with the elves.


End file.
